


Another Life

by ChiiwiFruit



Category: CLAMP - Works, Cardcaptor Sakura, Natsume Yuujinchou | Natsume's Book of Friends, Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle
Genre: AU?, Canon Divergence, Clear Card Arc, F/F, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Reincarnation, Romance, Soft Feels
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-07
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:42:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 43,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23055673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChiiwiFruit/pseuds/ChiiwiFruit
Summary: Li Syaoran has finally found a way to grant bodies to the clones of himself and Princess Sakura. Unfortunately, they have to reincarnate for it to work, which means that they won't remember him or any of their other friends. The clone of Princess Sakura reincarnates as a girl without magic named Akiho Shinomoto, and the clone of Syaoran reincarnates as the daughter of Natsume Takashi. Finally, all four souls are coming together.
Relationships: Kinomoto Sakura/Li Syaoran, Shinomoto Akiho/Original Female Character, Yuna D Kaito/Original Fay
Comments: 90
Kudos: 50





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I know there's some confusion about how to refer to Fai and Yuui when they're both in a fic together, but I hope the way I've set it up makes it clear.

The guide led the group into a secluded section of the woods. None of the trees in this area bore leaves, marking it as separate and more sinister than the rest of the forest. The deeper they went, the thicker the fog grew. At first it clung around their ankles, but it slowly climbed higher until it was around their waists. Although they knew it was probably their imaginations, it felt like the fog stuck to them with physical force.

Mokona shivered and burrowed deeper into Syaoran’s cowl. The bone-bare branches and dampening fog were creeping her out. Syaoran tugged the rough fabric more snugly around her, and Mokona managed a weak smile of gratitude.

The guide stopped near a fallen log. His and Kurogane’s lanterns could not longer penetrate the fog enough to see the path ahead. “This is as far as I’ll take you,” the man said. He eyed the path ahead with misgiving. He had promised his wife that he wouldn’t go any further into the forest than this when the travelers had approached them looking for a guide. Their village had disturbing tales about this place. Some said that you could meet loved ones who had passed away. Others said that if you stared into your reflection in the pond ahead, you would never return.

He pointed in the direction of that pond now. “Just follow the path and you’ll reach the pond. Folks say you need to look into the pond, but that you might not be able to return once you do. Are you sure you want to?”

Syaoran smiled at him. “Thank you, but we’ll be fine. There’s something we want.”

Well, he certainly couldn’t argue with the determination in the boy’s eyes. He sighed. “All right, then. When you’re done, just follow the path back. If you get lost, send up a flare and I’ll come looking.”

“That won’t be necessary.”

The group watched him leave, then turned to the path ahead, barely visible through the crawling fog. Kurogane had the remaining lantern and so took the lead. Syaoran’s heart hammered as he followed. He hardly dared to hope, but he was hopeful regardless. An oracle they’d met in another world had said that the answer for giving his and Sakura’s clones new bodies might be found here.

And he so badly wanted to see the other Syaoran again. His clone, his father, who was alive and sleeping in Syaoran’s body. The events in Nirai Kanai had cemented that for him: the other Syaoran was alive, and they could meet if Syaoran figured out how.

Fai laid a gentle hand on his shoulder in silent support, and Syaoran knew his inner turmoil wasn’t well hidden.

The path ended as the trees opened up ahead of them. The group stepped into the clear space. The fog stuck to the trees and hovered ominously over the large pond in the centre of the clearing. The water looked black and opaque in the lack of light. No plants grew on the water, and it was absolutely still, as if no fish lived there.

Kurogane stopped midway between the trees and the water. He held the lantern aloft, looking back at Syaoran. Syaoran met his eyes and took a deep breath. The oracle had said that Syaoran would need to be the one to address whatever waited here, where the separation between the world of the living and the world of the dead was thinnest. Syaoran was the one who wanted it most. It couldn’t be anyone else.

Syaoran passed Mokona to Fai, where she would be safe is anything went wrong. He stepped past Kurogane and stopped at the edge of the water, just before his boots touched it. The oracle had been very clear that for a living being to touch the water would be bad, though she had not specified what horrors would await him if he did.

At first, all he could see was his own reflection. He thought hard about the other Syaoran - all the things he had seen through the other Syaoran’s right eye, and everything that had come after.

His reflection wavered, then clouded over. Fog began to swirl beneath the surface of the water. Syaoran stepped back as the fog floated upward, forming a swirling tower Kurogane’s height.

Kurogane and Fai stepped close to Syaoran now that the pond was reacting. There was no way to know who would respond to Syaoran’s request, but the oracle had assured them that it would be someone who knew of a solution to their problem, and that it was their best option for meeting the clones again.

The fog swirled, indistinct, before it slowly began to take a human shape. A shape that was somewhat familiar, with long blond hair and a thick beard. His shape solidified until it looked like a human stood there on the surface of the water.

Fai gave a choked gasp and retreated several steps while Kurogane moved behind him and the figure.

It was the Sovereign of Valeria.

Fai’s older brother.

Syaoran stared in disbelief as the Sovereign looked around, curious. This close, Syaoran could see that his eyes were a clear, bright blue, just like Fai’s, although they had always appeared cloudy in the visions shown to them by King Ashura.

“I was summoned,” the Sovereign said, stepping forward onto the grass. This brought him uncomfortably close to Syaoran, who took a step back. The movement drew the Sovereign’s attention to him. “By you?”

“I-” Syaoran began, at a loss. He was equally conscious of the Sovereign’s sharp blue eyes on him as he was of Kurogane’s protective presence at his back and Fai’s rapid breathing. He didn’t want to talk to this man who had hurt his friend so badly. But the oracle said that whoever came through was the only one who could help. So Syaoran squared his shoulders, prepared to do what was unpleasant but necessary. He refused to upset Fai for nothing, and this was for the other Syaoran. “I did,” he said.

The Sovereign nodded, and resumed looking around. Syaoran went rigid when the Sovereign’s gaze landed behind him. “Oh, is that Yuui?” the Sovereign said. He sounded surprised, but neither hostile nor affectionate. “You have grown taller.”

Syaoran’s teeth ground together. That was all he had to say to Fai, after everything he had put his little brothers through?

But the Sovereign walked over to a moss-covered rock and stared down at it. “I wonder if I am able to sit here,” he mused out loud. He nudged the rock with his foot and, pleased with the results, sat down gingerly. He rested his hands on his knees and looked at Syaoran. “Now, tell me why you have summoned me to the world of the living, Friend of Yuui.”

There was nothing else to do, so Syaoran explained about Fei Wang Reed, how he and Princess Sakura of Clow Country had been cloned for his plans, and how when Fei Wang was destroyed the clones vanished and their souls disappeared into the bodies of the originals. Syaoran explained his and Sakura’s desire to meet their other selves again, and that it must be possible because the clones’ souls were alive.

The Sovereign listened without interrupting, his eyes fixed on Syaoran’s with unnerving focus. When Syaoran finished, the Sovereign nodded. “That explains much,” he said, which was not what Syaoran was expecting.

“Explains what? Your Majesty,” he added belatedly, because this man was a king even if he had done terrible things.

The Sovereign waved a hand. “I not longer warrant that title,” he said, tone firm. “I destroyed my country. Even were I not dead, I would still be a man without a title. My _name_ is Sakari.”

While Syaoran was still absorbing those words, Sakari leaned forward. “You have two souls within your body. I had wondered why, as I have never seen such a thing. But your explanation makes sense, though it is remarkable that the soul of the created being went inside of you when it should had faded out existence as it was meant to.”

It felt like those eyes were staring through Syaoran. Sensing his discomfort, Kurogane left Fai’s side in order to back Syaoran up. Syaoran looked up at him in gratitude as Kurogane stood next to him.

“You seem saner now than when you were alive,” Kurogane said, not sharing Syaoran’s automatic respect for royalty. But his comment drew Sakari’s attention off Syaoran, and Syaoran felt like he could breathe again.

“The disease of my body did not follow my soul into death,” Sakari replied. He resumed staring at Syaoran, tapping a finger against his own bearded cheek. “I wonder if the created beings’ souls remained because the Witch of Dimensions granted them a final, proper life after their original bodies were destroyed,” he mused. “And if that anchored them to life enough for their souls not to have been destroyed as they should have been.”

“But Syaoran and Sakura shouldn’t have been destroyed!” Mokona, still in Fai’s hands, could not take it any longer and found the courage to protest Sakari acting like Syaoran and Sakura were meant to die. “It’s too sad, and they were good people!”

Startled, Sakari stared at the small white creature in Fai’s hands. “It speaks...” he murmured. A moment later, he appeared to recover. “I did not mean to imply that it was something the creations deserved. Rather, created beings disappearing entirely, body and soul, when their creator dies is how that magic typically works unless the creator makes it otherwise. For example, you, small white creature-”

“Mokona!”

“Pardon me, Mokona. You were created by Clow Reed and the Witch of Dimensions, and you remain even though they have both died because they made it so that you would. This Fei Wang Reed took no such precautions. And though I suspect the Witch did what she was able for the clones, her abilities were limited as she was not their creator.”

Fai took a deep breath. He tried to shake off the memories, the pain and despair he thought he had conquered and that had resurfaced at the sight of Sakari. It took all of his courage to speak to his older brother. “So, do you know of a way that Sakura-chan and Syaoran-kun can be given bodies?” he asked through a tight throat. His voice shook, but Mokona’s gentle pat on his wrist made him feel a little better.

It was okay. This man had no power over him anymore. He wasn’t alone, and Sakari couldn’t hurt him.

But he was still shaking.

“No in the way that you want,” Sakari said, replying to Fai in the same tone he had used for the others. It was somehow comforting, that distance, even though Fai could see his dismay at the answer amplified on Syaoran’s face.

“What do you mean? They’re living souls. If we find or make bodies for them, it should be possible,” Syaoran protested.

Sakari looked a Syaoran with something approaching pity. “Even if you were to somehow create bodies and place those souls inside, it would not make them regular humans,” he said. “They are created beings, and created beings they would remain. And just as they disappeared after their second lives, so too would they disappear if their created bodies died. Also,” he continued before Syaoran could argue, “if you were to die, as you are what is anchoring that boy’s soul to life, the clone would likely vanish with you.”

Syaoran’s face crumpled. This was not what he had hoped for. If it were impossible, why had the pond even responded to him in the first place?

Fai approached and put his arms around Syaoran, and Syaoran leaned into the touch gratefully because he knew Fai did not want to be so close to Sakari.

Sakari watch the four of them move together in a supportive huddle. His small brother had certainly done well, finding such friends as these. He could not give Yuui and his friends the answer they so clearly wanted, but that didn’t mean that there was nothing to be done.

“I cannot make them human in this life,” Sakari said, drawing the group’s attention back to him. “However, if I remove the living soul from you body and take it with me to the world of the dead, and take it with me when I reincarnate, it will be born as a human.”

The group stared at Sakari. That was possible? “But Yuuko already had them reincarnate! How is this different?” Mokona asked.

“Because the Witch could not sever their bond to their creator,” Sakari explained. “It would have destroyed them to have that bond severed by force. They were still creations, and she could not send them on properly as reincarnating deceased humans. However, their creator is dead. That bond severed naturally. There is no longer any limit to how much or in what ways they can change.”

“But... if we do that, they won’t remember Mokona and everyone,” Mokona said.

“That is correct,” Sakari said, making Syaoran cringe. What Syaoran really wanted to face his clone, who was also his father, and have a talk like they had never been able to before the other Syaoran disappeared.

But if that wasn’t possible, not without denying the other Syaoran a proper human life, wasn’t this the next best option? Then the other Syaoran and the other Sakura could be born as real humans, and hopefully be together, and no one could take that away from them. And maybe he and Sakura would get to meet them as they, too, reincarnated through the worlds. Maybe they would even get to be friends, living happy lives together, without remembering past tragedies.

It wasn’t what he wanted. It wasn’t what Sakura wanted. But these souls deserved to live, and if this was the only way...

The others could see from Syaoran’s face that he had made his decision. Fai’s arms tightened briefly, and Kurogane clapped him on the shoulder.

“I understand. If that’s what needs to happen,” Syaoran said. “But I don’t want them to go with you. I don’t trust you. You’ve already done damage to someone I care about.” Fai’s arms tightened again. Syaoran knew he agreed.

Sakari frowned. “They cannot go by themselves. Their souls were not created knowing where to go after they die. They would risk coming apart,” he said. “However, I can arrange for them to reincarnate with a proper human soul that is not mine if that it what you desire, though I must be the one to escort them to the world of the dead. I am the only dead person present, after all.”

“You have friends there who’ll do it?” Kurogane asked. He sounded doubtful.

“No. I had thought to ask Fai to do it.”

It took a second for them to realize that he didn’t mean Yuui, who they knew as Fai.

Syaoran felt Fai stiffen and his breath catch. He covered Fai’s hand with one of his own. Because Fai couldn’t ask, Syaoran asked for him. “Would he?”

Sakari made an uncertain gesture with his hands. “Fai tends to avoid me,” he said. “It will take some time to corner him. And he wishes to wait, but he will take the souls if I tell him that it is a request from Yuui that he do so.” Sakari spared Fai a glance. “He would do anything for you.”

Fai was struggling to breathe again. Sakari hadn’t quite said it outright, but he understood. His brother Fai was waiting for him. He had been waiting all this time, because when he reincarnated, he wanted to go together.

Kurogane’s hand was on his back to comfort and steady him. When Fai turned his stricken gaze upward, Kurogane looked at him with characteristic seriousness and said, “He doesn’t mind waiting. If it means you’re still alive, he doesn’t mind.”

Fai closed his eyes and drew in a shaky breath. Kurogane was right, he knew. If he had been the one to die back then, he wouldn’t have resented a single day of waiting, because each day he waited would mean a day that Fai lived.

Sakari and Syaoran were still discussing logistics. “I can simply remove your clone’s soul from you,” Sakari was saying, “but your princess is in another world, so getting the soul from her will be more difficult.”

“It would be easier if we could go through dreams,” Syaoran said. “But none of us is a dream seer.”

“Nor am I.” Sakari drummed his fingers on his knees as he thought.

“Watanuki could, but he’s at the store,” Mokona said. She had moved from Fai’s arm back to Syaoran’s shoulder.

“Watanuki?” Sakari asked.

“Watanuki Kimihiro. The one who has the same existence as me,” Syaoran said.

“Ah, from when time was wound back.” Sakari was nodding. “Yes, that should work.” He reached for Syaoran, and Kurogane grabbed his wrist.

Kurogane glared when Sakari looked at him. “I was not going to hurt him,” Sakari said, offended by the rude grabbing. “I only wanted this.”

A glowing thread had appeared between Sakari’s fingers. One end was anchored in Syaoran’s chest, while the other stretched further than they could see.

“What is that?” Kurogane asked. He didn’t let go of Sakari’s wrist, though he was surprised he could touch Sakari at all.

“It’s a bond,” Sakari explained. He was doing something, because the thread started to glow brighter. “Specifically, it’s Syaoran’s bond to Watanuki. I can use this to reach out to Watanuki, and use Watanuki’s dream-seeing to reach the princess to get the soul. Since Syaoran will remain here on the other end of the bond, I will not be too far away from the portal as long as I keep hold of this.”

And with that, he vanished. The others blinked at his sudden absence. Syaoran put a hand to his chest where the bond was still visible, glowing fainter now that Sakari was gone.

A bond, huh? He kind of liked the thought that there was a thread tying him to Kimihiro.

They made themselves comfortable on the grass to wait. It was nearly three hours before Sakari returned, and Syaoran was worried because the oracle had said that visitors could only come through at night. If dawn broke, Sakari would be forced back through the portal, and who knew if they would be able to reach him again?

It seemed as though Sakari reappeared in the span of a heartbeat. In one instant he was not there, and in the next he was standing before Syaoran with a ball of light cradled in his arms.

Syaoran scrambled to his feet. “Is that...?” he asked, looking closely. The ball of light seemed to shift colours and size as he stared at it, making him dizzy.

“It is, yes, though it was rather difficult to persuade the girl to let me take her. It seems I’m rather hated.” Sakari didn’t sound concerned. He tucked clone Sakura’s soul into his elbow and reached for Syaoran with his other hand. “Now for the boy. Hold still.”

Syaoran held his breath as Sakari reached _inside_ his chest. He felt a tug, and Sakari drew another ball of light out of Syaoran.

Dizzy, Syaoran staggered backward. Kurogane caught him, but his eyes were on the souls. “So those are the kids,” he murmured. There was a tinge of sadness in Kurogane’s eyes. Syaoran could relate - he was sad to see them leave, too.

“Is there anything else before I leave?” Sakari asked. He had a soul tucked in each elbow as if they were newborn babies.

Syaoran struggled upright, still dizzy. “Yes! I have questions.”

Sakari looked impatient. “Ask,” he said. “We haven’t much time left before sunrise.”

“Where will they end up?”

“I don’t know. I have no control over which world they will be born into, and neither does Fai. However, as they will go through together, they should be born into the same world.”

“Why were you the one to answer the summons?” Kurogane asked.

Sakari raised his eyebrows. “Not everyone has the power to reach into someone’s chest and pull out a soul,” he pointed out. “Most would not have known he had two souls to begin with. But I have talent for such things, and the power to accomplish them. Since that was what you required, I was called.”

“By why help us?” Mokona asked from the depths of Syaoran’s cowl.

“Do you not want me to?”

“No, it’s just- your relationship with Fai- I mean, Yuui... and you don’t have to help...” fumbled Mokona.

“Well, I owe my brother _something,_ don’t I?” Sakari said, startling Fai. “Now, if that’s all...”

Before any of them could say anything further, Sakari stepped into the pond and vanished. His last words echoed in Fai’s mind.

‘ _I owe my brother **something,** don’t I?’_

Was that meant to be an apology?

If so, it wasn’t a very good one.

They stood in the clearing staring at the pond for a moment longer, each with their own private hopes for their friends and the secret fear that Sakari wouldn't do what he promised. Then Mokona’s eyes opened and her wings spread out to take them to the next world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! Feel free to follow me on [Tumblr](https://chiiwifruit.tumblr.com/) or [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/chiiwifruit/), or check out the playlist I made for this fic on [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37zySYbGBhsRSd5CumCpmv).
> 
> If you liked this fic, please be sure to hit the Kudos button and leave a comment down below!


	2. Chapter 2

Sakari received a strange phone call.

“Is this Sakari Koivunen?” the young, male voice asked when Sakari picked up. From the sound of it, a middle school kid had gotten it into his head to call one of the most powerful magicians in the world.

It wasn’t often that Sakari received calls from people he didn’t know. On top of being the most powerful magician in Finland, he was also the head of the Koivunen family and thus in charge of its businesses and considerable assets. He had a personal assistant to deal with unwanted phone calls. Which was most of them - Sakari was notorious in both business and magic circles for being unfriendly. But this kid had called him on his personal number. Which meant that he'd somehow gotten someone to divulge Sakari's personal number – not an easy feat – and then had the nerve to actually _call_ it.

Impressive.

Because he was impressed, Sakari decided to hear the kid out before he hung up on him. Maybe he had something interesting to say, and life was boring enough for him to entertain interesting things now and again. “This is he. What did you need?” Sakari asked, leaning against the support post at the front of his house.

The Koivunen family home was out in the middle of nowhere, just as Sakari liked it. Maybe it was a little inconvenient for business purposes, but what was a little inconvenience compared to not having to live smack in the middle of gobs of people? Sakari much preferred sheep. Look, there was one now! Ambling along, thinking its sheepy thoughts, with no intention of bothering Sakari.

“Mr. Koivunen, I apologize for calling out of the blue like this. My name is Eriol Hiiragizawa,” the boy said. Sakari knew that name from somewhere. Hiiragizawa... Hiiragizawa... Ah.

“That English magician? Reincarnated from Clow Reed?” Huh. Important guy. Except wasn't he like, twelve? Or older, Sakari thought he'd heard, but appeared twelve. Sakari didn't understand that. Twelve was a terrible age. No force in the world could have enticed him to stay twelve for more than the required year. The only thing worse than being twelve was being _thirteen._ God. Never again.

A dry chuckle. “Yes, I am most well known for that,” Eriol said with a touch of regret. “But that aside, I’m afraid I’ve encountered a problem and could use your help.”

Intrigued, Sakari went inside and closed the door. Not that there was anyone around to overhear the conversation, except the sheep. “A problem _you_ can’t handle? Tell me more.”

While he listened, Sakari got the kettle down to make himself some tea. There was a little girl in Japan whose magic was going wildly out of control who needed someone to train her (not Sakari’s problem) and a D-ranked magician who had gotten kicked out of the Magician’s Society who wanted to use the girl’s magic for his own gain (exact motive unknown) and was preventing other magicians from entering Japan.

That did sound like a problem.

“So you called me because, as another D-ranked magician, I might be strong enough to handle your renegade magician?” It wasn’t really a question, since it was clear that was what Eriol wanted. And he wouldn’t be asking if he were strong enough to do it himself.

“Yes. I know I’m asking for a lot, especially since we don’t know each other. But my options, unfortunately, are limited,” Eriol said, and he actually sounded apologetic. As Sakari sipped his tea, he felt himself softening toward the stranger who clearly cared about this girl. Well, Sakari mused, there was nothing wrong with having a powerful magician view the family favourably.

But no way in hell was Sakari going to Japan. Talk about gobs of people! He didn't like fish, and he didn’t speak the language. Also, he didn’t want to.

Fortunately, there was a way to deal with tasks that Sakari didn't want to do.

“Listen, I’ve got a lot of commitments and can’t go to Japan right now,” Sakari began. “But I’ve got a brother...”

* * *

It was typical of Sakari to push unwanted tasks onto Fai. It wasn’t as though Fai minded traveling - he quite liked it, really, and it gave him the opportunity to search for the other child. He had a promise to keep, after all. He’d even been to Japan before, and Shion was excited and nervous at the prospect of returning to her homeland.

It was the fact that Sakari thought he could order Fai around and move on that irritated Fai. Sakari was the head of the family, but that didn’t mean Fai had nothing going on.

But Sakari said there was a little girl who needed help. A twelve- or thirteen-year-old girl. Shion’s age. So of course Fai was going to help her.

Fai was a soft-hearted fool, and Sakari used that to his full advantage. Such was the drawback of having an older brother. One of many, anyway.

As though Fai had summoned him just by thinking about him, Sakari appeared in the doorway of Fai’s room. He was frowning. Fai paused in his packing to look at Sakari and wait for him to speak.

“You’re bringing Shion?” Sakari asked. He knew better than to enter Fai’s room, and so leaned against the door frame, crossing his arms over his chest.

Oh. Fai resumed packing. “Of course I’m bringing Shion,” Fai said. He lifted a stack of shirts into his suitcase. “What else would I do? I always bring her.”

Sakari was still frowning. “Yes, but I thought you might leave her here this time. You’re going up against a strong magician, and it might be dangerous for her.”

Fai had always had a strained relationship with his older brother, in no small part because Fai remembered his past life and Sakari did not, so Sakari’s fondness for Fai’s young charge always surprised him.

“I’m not leaving Shion with you, Sakari. Especially not when I expect to be gone for months.”

Sakari opened his mouth, and Fai could see him preparing his usual arguments - Shion liked him, they both had spirit magic, she needed stability, mother would be here, so it’s not like they’d be alone, etc.

To save time, Fai cut through with his counter-argument before Sakari could speak, and used the one that always worked. “She’s been passed around by her relatives so much, Sakari. You know that if I leave her behind, she’ll assume that I’m throwing her away. That I won’t come back for her. I’m not doing that to her, so you had better go say goodbye.”

Defeated, Sakari sighed. “I’ll miss her though,” he grumbled, and finally left Fai in peace. 

Sakari hadn’t said he’d miss Fai, but Fai was okay with that.

* * *

“Ready to go?” Fai asked.

Shion was sitting on the floor of her room surrounded by packed suitcases, so he presumed she was physically ready. However, she was curled around Nyanko-sensei with Saisei in her hair. She was hyperventilating, her face buried in Nyanko-sensei's fur. Saisei was singing softly and stroking her hair to soothe her, and none of them looked up when Fai approached.

Fai should have expected this. Shion had been in a bad situation when Fai took her in when she was ten. They had traveled since then, but not to Japan.

Fai sat on the floor and put his arm around her. Saisei stopped their quiet singing when Fai spoke.

“What are you scared of?”

Shion leaned into his hold and lifted her face to take a deep breath. When she first came, it had been tough to get her to talk about negative feelings, but now the words came out in a rush. “What if someone recognizes me? What if they call me a liar? Or a freak? Or a child nobody wants? What if a spirit shows up in the middle of class and I scream? What if everyone stares at me?”

Fai waited patiently until she ran out of what-ifs. When she quieted, he stroked her long, pale brown hair. “I want you, and I believe you,” he said. “Since those two facts won’t change, will it be the end of the world if any of those other things happen?” he asked.

Shion closed her eyes, and he knew she was picturing it. “No,” she said, looking relieved.

Fai smiled and kissed the top of her head. “Good. Are you ready to go?”

Shion stood up with Nyanko-sensei in her arms and Saisei on her shoulder. “Yes, I’m ready,” she said.

* * *

Eriol Hiiragizawa had warned Sakari of the possibility that Yuna D. Kaito, the problem-causing magician, might shoot down a plane if they went to Japan by air. So since Fai didn’t want to endanger any civilians, they would be traveling to Japan using transportation magic. They were still likely to be attacked, but Fai could handle that.

Of course, he had to make up an excuse for Shion, since he hadn’t told her exactly why they were going to Japan other than that Sakari was sending him there for a client. Shion knew that Fai valued client privacy, so she didn’t press for more details.

They stacked all of their luggage in the middle of the room, as they were going to bring it all through at once. Sakari had already said his goodbyes to Shion and was in his office working.

Fai took Shion’s hand. “Ready?” he asked.

Shion looked up at him and nodded. “Yep. Saisei-san and Nyanko-sensei are ready too,” she said, patting her shoulder bag.

“Okay then. Hold on tight. This might be bumpy.” Shion’s hand tightened around Fai’s as he used his free hand to write the magic runes of the transportation spell in the air. The room spun around them and then was swallowed by darkness.

Lightning arced out of the blackness and Fai had to block and counter without disrupting the transportation spell. Shion shrieked in alarm as the lightning hit Fai’s shield spells. She grabbed onto Fai’s arm with both hands as he blocked the next attack.

And here, they were approaching the wards Yuna D. Kaito had set up to keep them out of Japan. Fai shouted for Shion to hold on tight, but the air was roaring around them and he couldn’t be sure that she heard. So he wrapped his arm around her hard enough that he could feel her individual ribs and prepared to smash through the magic impeding them.

The wards shattered like glass when Fai slammed his magic into them. The landing was astonishingly gentle after the rough journey. For a moment the only sounds were them breathing. Then Shion jerked away from Fai and ripped the flap of her bag open to make sure its occupants had come through unharmed.

Despite the interference, Fai managed to land exactly where he intended to in the house Sakari had arranged for them. All of their boxes and bags had come through as well, scattered around them in what appeared to be the living area. Fai bent to examine one. “I suppose we should make sure everything came through in one place,” he mused. His greatest concern had been making sure he, Shion, and their passengers came through safely. Their baggage was just things, and less important.

Shion turned to him with a frown. “You didn’t say we might be attacked,” she said. “Is this job going to be dangerous for you?”

Saisei clawed free of the bag Shion had left open, disheveled and a bit squished. They dusted themself off and joined Shion in staring at Fai with concern and just a little disapproval.

“I thought you said you’re here to be a teacher,” Saisei said.

“I am,” Fai replied. When Saisei only continued to stare, he shrugged. “It seems not everyone wants my new student to be taught. But it’s nothing I can’t handle,” he added when Shion looked worried. “Come on, let’s get the house set up. You start school in a couple days.”

Shion grimaced in a way that said ‘don’t remind me’, but she wasn’t one to complain. After setting her shoulder bag down to let Nyanko-sensei out, she got to work helping Fai unpack.

Fai knew she was worried about school, but he hoped she would have a good experience this time. She was a sweet girl. She deserved that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun Fact: I chose Sakari and Fai's last name after Aimo Koivunen, a Finnish soldier from World War II.
> 
> I hope you're all staying safe and healthy out there!


	3. Chapter 3

Shion was nervous about her first day of her new school. Nyanko-sensei took pity on her and accompanied her for the walk, even though he grumbled a little about how middle schoolers should be able to walk to school by themselves. Shion was grateful despite the grumbling. Nyanko-sensei in his chubby calico form had been the one constant in her life, so having him with her was an enormous comfort.

Of course, cats couldn’t come to school, so they parted at the gates. That was okay, because Shion had done the next steps of meeting the teacher and being escorted to her classroom many times in the past.

Standing in front of the class to introduce herself would always be nerve-wracking though.

Shion stood while the teacher wrote the kanji for her name on the board, hoping that she didn’t look too rigid and that no one could see that she was trembling from nerves. She did manage a smile for her new classmates as she introduced herself, since faking a smile was her specialty. “I’m Natsume Shion. Pleased to meet you,” she said. She avoided looking at the sea of faces by staring at the back wall, which always helped her keep her voice steady.

“Wonderful! You can sit in the empty seat next to Yanagisawa-san. Yanagisawa-san, please raise your hand!” the teacher said.

A girl near the back of the class with straight hair cut in a bob and glasses with very round lenses raised her hand. Shion made her way down the aisle between desks, trying to ignore the curious looks sent her way.

Shion couldn’t have said what drew her attention to the boy sitting behind Yanagisawa, but she looked up at him as she neared her desk and received the biggest shock of her life.

Those were her eyes.

The bag dropped from her numb hand and clattered to the floor. Her heart stopped beating and the world froze around her.

That was her. But it wasn’t. Was it? That was a boy, and he was staring back at her, looking just as shaken.

“Are you okay?” The speaker was a boy sitting on the other side of the aisle. Shion snapped back to reality. Everyone was staring at her with concern.

Her face flushed, the only part of her that wasn’t cold with shock. “Ah... yes!” she said. Maybe her voice sounded strange, but _everything_ felt strange right now. She bent to snatch up her bag and rushed the rest of the way to her seat.

It was a relief to drop down in her chair and take her weight off her shaking legs. The teacher started class and most of the attention on her faded, but Shion could still feel the boy staring at the back of her head. She didn’t dare look at him again.

Shion rubbed her hands together. Her skin still felt icy, as though it was winter rather than the beginning of summer. There must be something wrong with her. Maybe she was getting sick. That boy didn’t even look like her, really.

Her seatmate leaned toward her. “I’m Yanagisawa Naoko,” she whispered, smiling. She looked friendly. She had doodled a kappa on the corner of her textbook. “I hope we’ll get along.”

“Ah, yeah,” Shion said, managing to smile back. “Me, too.”

“Hey, no talking back there!” the teacher chastised them. Shion dug out her notebook and flipped it open. Yanagisawa nudged her textbook closer to Shion so that she could share, prompting Shion to send her a more genuine smile.

That had been weird, but this was just school. She just had to pay attention and take notes.

* * *

Syaoran couldn’t breathe.

He focused on inhaling and exhaling the way his mother taught him during training. Breath was the base of control, she always said. And he knew she was right. But right now, breathing was hard.

What the heck was _that_ all about?

The new girl, Natsume, had seemed normal enough when she was standing at the front of the room, though she had seemed vaguely familiar to Syaoran. Then she had come closer, and she looked at him. It was like getting hit by a train. He knew some people felt that way about romantic attraction, but this wasn’t that. This wasn’t like anything he felt for Sakura.

His mother had also always said that you could tell a lot about a person if you paid attention to their eyes. And from looking in Natsume’s eyes, Syaoran felt like he _knew_ her. Really knew her. Like she’d been important to him, even precious, before a long separation. But he’d never seen her before.

Had he?

Syaoran couldn't concentrate on his lessons. Too many questions buzzed around his head. But when lunch arrived, he saw his opportunity to talk to her.

“Natsume-san!” he said as she gathered her stuff to leave the classroom. Her shoulders stiffened, but she did turn, reluctantly, to look at him. He saw the connection jolt her even as it did the same to him. It wasn’t unpleasant, it was just weird. Did she feel it too, or was he just imagining it?

“Yes?” she asked. Her bag was clutched to her chest like a shield, but she waited for him to speak.

Syaoran remembered himself enough to bow to her respectfully. “I’m Li Syaoran. Welcome to our class,” he said, a bit impatient with the formalities, but his mother had not raised a rude son. Anyway, he wasn’t sure how to ask her about... whatever was going on with the two of them.

She bowed back. “I’m Natsume Shion,” she said. She seemed to hesitate, then asked, “Were you born in Japan? Your name isn’t Japanese.”

“No, I’m from Hong Kong. Have you ever been there?” Syaoran was relieved she’d asked. Now he could figure out whether he’d ever met her in Hong Kong, even if he’d been a young child and didn’t remember.

But Natsume shook her head. “No, I haven’t.” She seemed like she was finished speaking, but then she elaborated. “I grew up in Japan, but I’ve been living in Finland for the last couple years.”

“Finland, you say?” Yamazaki said, popping into the conversation and startling them both. “You know, in Finland, it’s said-”

“Not now, Yamazaki-kun,” Yanagisawa said, pushing him aside. “Let her get used to the school first.”

Natsume blinked, puzzled. Syaoran tried again. “Is this your first time in Tomoeda?” he asked.

“Yes,” Natsume replied.

So that’s how it was. He couldn’t have met her before. But she seemed so familiar.

“Why do you ask?” Natsume was still holding her bag tightly. He was probably making her uncomfortable, which hadn’t been his intention. He decided to be honest. “I feel like I know you.”

Shion stared. She felt that way too! But before she could say so, Li spoke again.

“Would you like to have lunch with us?” he asked.

“Huh?”

“Oh, yes, please do!” Yanagisawa said. “You don’t know anybody yet, right? We’re a very friendly group. We’ll introduce you to our other friends, and Li-kun’s girlfriend!”

Li blushed deep scarlet, which was kind of funny. But then Shion was being absorbed into the group and carried out to the schoolyard, when what she really wanted was to find a quiet, secluded spot to eat alone.

The group steered her to another group who were already laying blankets down on the grass and setting up their lunches. Shion didn’t recognize them, so they must not be from Class 3.

A girl with braided pigtails noticed them first. “Hey!” she said. She looked cheerful. “Who’s this?”

Before Shion could introduce herself, Li introduced her. “She transferred into our class today, so I asked her to each lunch with us.”

“Oh, another transfer student!” said one of the other girls, another cheerful person. “Like Akiho-chan! I’m Kinomoto Sakura. Nice to meet you!”

Yanagisawa leaned close to whisper in Shion’s ear. “That’s Li-kun’s girlfriend.”

Curious, Shion gave her a closer look. Kinomoto was... really cute, actually, with fluffy bobbed hair and big green eyes. She had a kind face, Shion decided. She had moved so often that she had become a pretty good judge of character. And when Shion smiled at her, the smile Kinomoto returned was so big and bright that it seemed to take over her face.

The others introduced themselves. The girl with the braided pigtails was Mihara Chiharu, and Yanagisawa informed Shion that she was Yamazaki’s girlfriend. The ladylike girl with long black hair was Daidouji Tomoyo. And the girl that Shion ended up next to with the curly ash blonde hair was Shinomoto Akiho.

Shinomoto was completely adorable. She smiled at Shion when she sat down, and Shion’s heart tripped in her chest. Strange... what was that about?

“So you’re a transfer student like me!” Shinomoto was saying. “I’m from England. Where are you from?”

Shinomoto had really pretty blue eyes, not unlike Fai’s. “Well, I’m Japanese, but I’ve been living in Finland recently,” Shion said, flustered.

“Akiho-chan’s lived in lots of places too!” Kinomoto said excitedly. “Germany, Italy, Hong Kong...” she counted them off on her fingers.

“And France,” Daidouji supplied with a calm smile.

“Amazing,” Shion said. She had traveled a bit for Fai’s work, but she hadn’t really ‘lived’ anywhere other than Japan and Finland.

“Have the rest of you known each other since elementary school, or did you meet this year?” Shion asked, because she had noticed that Li was staring at her again and she needed to come up with something to say.

“Yes! We met Akiho-chan this year, but the rest of us went to Tomoeda Elementary together.” Kinomoto seemed to be the friendliest of the group, though they all seemed nice so far.

That could change later, though, once Shion’s oddness started to show.

It always did.

Li must have noticed her glancing at him, because he said, “I went to to Tomoeda Elementary starting in fourth grade, but then I had to return to Hong Kong. I came back in April of this year.”

“Because he wanted to be with Sakura-chan,” Mihara said, making Daidouji giggle and Li and Kinomoto blush.

Shion got the impression that this couple was easy to tease.

* * *

Shion didn't dare to hope that Nyanko-sensei would be waiting for her at the gates after school, but there he was. She had skipped trying to find the library so that she wouldn’t miss him if he did decide to pick her up. It hadn’t been a bad day, but Shion still bent to pick him up and bury her face in his fur. He didn’t like that, but he put up with it.

“Bad?” he asked.

Shion shook her head, her cheek still pressed to his soft side.

“Any spirits?”

“Not so far. I saw a small one out the window after lunch, but it didn’t enter the school.” But Shion knew it was only a matter of time before the spirits in this town took notice of her. Her power drew them in like moths to a candle. Besides, her father and great-grandmother were famous.

“Fai has to leave for work soon after you get home, so he asked that you take care of dinner.” Nyanko-sensei liked to ride on her shoulder while she walked, but he was big and heavy, not to mention the attention he attracted. Shion dumped him on the ground before long.

He grumbled and huffed so that Shion would know how terribly she was abusing him by making him walk.

Shion wasn’t sure of the best place to go shopping, but she had moved often enough that she had no qualms about stopping other people to ask for directions. She was browsing the selection at the grocery store and trying to decide what to make for dinner when she became aware of eyes on her. She looked around and found that the culprit was a dark-haired boy, about college-age. And he was staring more at Nyanko-sensei than her.

Ahhh, she’d told him to wait outside! Shion snatched him up, her cheeks turning pink. “I’m sorry! I didn’t realize he followed me in!” Shion told the boy. Cats weren’t allowed in stores!

Flustered as she was, Shion didn’t realize that Nyanko-sensei and the boy were frowning at each other. She hustled Nyanko-sensei out of the store.

“You have to wait here, Sensei!” she hissed, setting him next to a bike rack. “You can’t come into the store.”

“Shion,” Nyanko-sensei said, so serious that Shion’s attention was immediately caught. “I think that boy knows.”

“Knows what?” Shion crouched on the sidewalk next to Nyanko-sensei so that it would be less obvious to any passerby that the cat was talking to her.

“That I’m a spirit, not a cat.”

But that was impossible, wasn’t it? Shion frowned. So few people these days had the power to see, and even those that did had such small powers that they shouldn’t be able to sense Nyanko-sensei in this form.

“Be careful, Shion. If he’s an exorcist, he can’t be trusted.”

“Understood.”

Shion had to finish her shopping, but she kept Nyanko-sensei’s warning in mind and kept her eyes out for the boy. She didn’t see him again by the time she was checking out. He must have left. Good. He wasn't going to bother her.


	4. Chapter 4

Shion was in good spirits when she returned from shopping, chatting about the kids in her class who invited her to eat lunch with them. While she talked, she unpacked the groceries, and Fai allowed himself a relieved breath as he finished getting his materials together. Her first day had been good, and she seemed to be making friends.

Fai slung his bag over his shoulder and kissed Shion on top of her head, also giving her shoulder a supportive squeeze. “I’m glad you’ve met some nice kids,” he said. “Will you have lunch with them again tomorrow?”

Shion’s expression betrayed her doubt. “Well, I don’t know... If they ask me,” she said.

Fai hoped they would.

He left Shion to her cooking. School was out, so it was time to introduce himself to his new student.

It was drizzling when he stepped outside. Fai wouldn’t have gone back inside for an umbrella, but the front door clanged open behind him. Shion, knowing her guardian well, stood on the doorstep holding out the pale blue umbrella she got him for Christmas last year. The set of her mouth brooked no argument, so Fai took the umbrella with polite thanks and no small amount of amusement. Honestly, the number of times Sakari had made him stand out in the rain, in rivers, and under waterfalls in the name of training made a small drizzle seem insignificant. But Shion fretted, so Fai liked to humour her.

With Shion back inside and an umbrella overhead to shield him from the rain, Fai set off for the Kinomoto household.

He didn’t need to ask for directions. Fai had been able to sense the girl the instant he had arrived in Tomoeda. She truly did hold incredible power, and she was leaking magic everywhere, just as Sakari said. Fai followed the girl’s magic, which in his mind lit up like a beacon, and occasionally consulted a map to see which streets he needed to take in order to get to the source.

He found himself outside a modest two-story house. He paused, noting that the lawn was tidy and the exterior of the house well-tended, before he walked to the front door and knocked.

Footsteps padded from the depths of the house to the door, and then it was opened by a young girl. _The_ young girl, for she was the source of the power Fai sensed. She had bright green eyes that stared at him curiously, and short soft brown hair. 

Sakari had said that her name was Sakura Kinomoto, but Fai knew from Shion that the Japanese gave their family names first. So he mimicked that when he addressed the girl.

“Hello. Are you Kinomoto Sakura-san? Is your father home?” Fai asked. He should explain his presence to the girl’s parents, and Sakari’s research indicated that her mother was dead.

But the girl shook her head, still staring at him in puzzlement. His blond hair and blue eyes marked him as a foreigner, so she was almost certainly wondering why he was at her door.

“I’m Sakura, but my dad isn’t home,” she said. “Can I help you with something?”

“Sakura, who is it?”

Ah, there was a boy as well. Too young to be the brother, as he was either the same age as Sakura or very close. He had strong magic as well, but Sakura was on a whole other level. Fai hadn’t sensed his presence because he hadn’t thought to look past Sakura’s magic to see if there were other nearby sources.

He really should.

Fai turned his head so that his smile included the serious young man who had come to stand by Sakura. The boy's expression was protective, bordering on hostile. He had enough power that he should be able to sense Fai’s magic, which might explain his caution. After all, like Sakura, Fai’s magic was on an entirely different level from the boy’s. Fai would feel like a threat.

“Hello, I’m aware that this is quite sudden. My name is Koivunen Fai,” he said, though it felt bizarre to give his family name first. “I’m a magician from Finland. I was asked by Hiiragizawa Eriol to come here to train you,” Fai said.

The pair of children seemed astonished. At Eriol’s name, they both started. “By Eriol-kun?” Sakura asked.

“That’s right,” Fai said. He waited while she seemed to mull it over, and while the boy stared at him with suspicion. “Well, I guess you should come in,” Sakura said, stepping aside to allow Fai to enter the house. The boy didn’t like it, but he didn’t contradict her. But he stuck close to Fai as Sakura showed him into a homey sitting room.

“I’ll make us some tea,” Sakura said as Fai and the boy settled on the couches. “Please wait a moment.”

She left for the kitchen, leaving Fai and the boy alone. The boy was frowning at Fai, who wasn’t sure who he was. He _felt_ familiar, which was peculiar since Fai was certain they’d never met before. But the feeling was even stronger with Sakura. Who were these kids?

“I’m sorry, but I’m afraid I don’t know your name,” Fai admitted after a moment passed while the boy stared at him in silence.

The boy jolted, then flushed across his cheekbones, which was not the reaction Fai expected. “Sorry. I’m Li Syaoran. Pleased to meet you,” the boy said, bowing his head and shoulders.

Oh. Fai warmed to him instantly. Shion had mentioned Li Syaoran. He was the classmate who had asked Shion to have lunch with him. This boy had been kind to Shion. Even if he decided to detest Fai, Fai would like him just for that.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Fai said. His sudden warmth surprised Syaoran, but also seemed to make him more suspicious. He was spared from responding as Sakura chose that moment to return with the tea.

Syaoran scrambled up to help take the tray and busied himself pouring tea from the teapot into three cups. Sakura took the seat next to Syaoran.

“Um,” she began. “You said that you’re here to train me. What does that mean, exactly?”

Fai accepted the cup that Syaoran passed to him and held it carefully between his palms. “From what I’ve heard, your magic has spiked recently and you are having difficulty controlling it,” Fai began. “It is very dangerous to leave a young magician untrained, especially a powerful one. If the situation is left as is, harm could come to both you and the people around you. That’s where I come in. As an experienced magician, I can help teach you how to control your magic. I can also help mitigate the damage if any accidents occur.”

“I see,” Sakura said. While Fai sipped his tea, she looked to Syaoran for advice or support.

Syaoran straightened his spine. Fai wasn’t sure of the relationship between the two children, but Syaoran clearly considered himself Sakura’s protector. “We haven’t been able to contact Hiiragizawa in weeks. We have no way to confirm what you’ve said, that he sent you,” Syaoran said.

Ah. So Yuna D. Kaito could block electronic communications as well. While Fai _could_ break through those spells, it didn’t seem like a good idea at this point. Not until he had an idea of just how powerful the other magician was, and how that power level compared to his own. Fai didn’t want to risk triggering an actual fight until he knew.

“I understand. While I came here with the purpose of teaching you, I can’t force you to accept lessons from me,” he told Sakura. “Please think it over. When you’ve made your decision, please call me.” Fai dug around in his bag until he found a slip of paper and a pen. He wrote the katakana for his name with care, since he wasn’t used to writing it and did not want to make a mistake. Then he wrote his cell phone number under it. With that finished, he held out the paper to Sakura, who took it and studied it.

Fai set his teacup back on the tray and stood. “Well, that’s all I came here for, so I’ll be going. Oh.” He paused. “Even if you decide you don’t want me to teach you, you can call me in an emergency. Please don’t hesitate.”

“Okay,” Sakura said. She still looked like she wasn’t sure what to make of him, which Fai supposed was fair enough. “But, um, Koi- Koibu- er...”

“Fai is fine.”

“Fai-san. Please don’t mention this to my dad? He doesn’t know about my magic. I don’t want to worry him,” Sakura said.

Fai hesitated. “I don’t like going behind people’s backs,” he said. “Especially when it comes to parents and their children. But I’ll trust your judgment. All right.”

Sakura smiled. It was a brilliant smile, like she put her whole heart into it. “Thank you.”

Fai smiled back. He couldn’t do a dazzling smile like that, but it was genuine. “Have a good rest of your afternoon,” he told the children.

He thought about saying something to Syaoran about Shion, but decided against it. If Syaoran decided not to trust him, Fai didn’t want Shion to be shunned because of it. So he left the two alone without saying anything further.

* * *

“I see. So Eriol-kun sent someone to teach you?” Tomoyo asked.

It was before school, and Sakura, Syaoran, and Tomoyo were gathered in a small courtyard outside the school. Tomoyo looked both amazed and concerned.

“Mm. That’s what Fai-san said, but we can’t confirm it,” Sakura said.

“But this Fai-san is definitely a magician?” Tomoyo asked.

Sakura looked to Syaoran for confirmation, and he nodded. “Yeah, a strong one. I could sense his power as soon as Sakura opened the door. I couldn’t sense him at all before that, though, which means he’s strong enough to hide if he wants to,” Syaoran said. And he didn’t like the implications of that at all. He also hated to see the worry on Sakura’s face. Now that she knew that her magic was going out of control, she seemed to feel a tremendous amount of guilt when it caused trouble for everyone. And Syaoran knew that Fai’s caution about the danger of leaving it unchecked stuck with her. Sakura would hate to be the reason someone got hurt.

The worst part was that Syaoran knew that Fai was right. His own mother had warned him of much the same thing, though Syaoran had hoped that it wouldn’t come to that. He had wanted his support to be enough for Sakura to get her magic under control, because he wanted to be the one to protect her.

But did it really matter who did the protecting, as long as she was safe?

But could they trust this so-called Finnish magician?

He had tried to call Hiiragizawa again last night, but as expected it hadn’t worked. Sakura said she had spoken to Spinel, and he hadn’t known anything about it. Of course, it was possible that Eriol had contacted Fai as a backup after sending Spinel and Ruby Moon to Japan.

Syaoran wished he knew what the right course of action was, and knew that Sakura must be similarly conflicted.

“What are you going to do, Sakura-chan?” Tomoyo asked.

“I don’t know yet,” Sakura replied. “Fai-san said I can think it over and let him know.”

She looked so uncertain that Syaoran took a step toward her with the intention of comforting her, but the ground reverberated beneath his feet. Syaoran was sent several feet into the air. His arms windmilled in surprise as he went up, and then down.

“Syaoran!” Sakura cried in alarm as his feet connected with the ground, and he was sent upwards again.

Syaoran used his reflexes and his martial arts training to keep himself upright.

His first thought was that this must be Sakura’s magic, and she must have thought the same thing because she said her incantation to transform the key into a staff.

“Hold on, Syaoran!” she called as Syaoran bounced across the courtyard like a basketball. At one point he lost his equilibrium and hit the ground on his butt, though fortunately it didn’t hurt. But on the next ascent he went higher, and despite his best attempts he couldn’t grab hold of the branches of the nearby trees to stop himself.

“Spiral, grab Syaoran! But gently!” Sakura said, using the card. Syaoran felt something like a spring wrap his entire body, rendering him immobile.

Sakura ran up to where Syaoran was held in mid-air. She held her staff aloft and called out her incantation, “Force without master, heed the call of my staff of dreams and become my power! Secure!”

Light peeled off Syaoran’s body toward the staff, forming the captured card. Sakura caught the Clear Card with her free hand, using the staff to gently lower Syaoran to the ground and recall the Spiral card.

Once Syaoran was safe, Sakura examined the new card. “Bounce,” she read, as Syaoran came over to inspect it as well. The image on the card looked almost like a chubby white rabbit, almost a mix of the Jump from the Sakura cards, or Shinomoto’s plush rabbit, Momo.

Sakura’s face was grim. “Sakura...” Syaoran began, but she shook her head hard.

“You could have gotten hurt just now, and it would have been my fault,” Sakura said, holding the cards to her chest. She drew in a deep breath, and let it out slowly. “I should accept Fai-san’s training. If it helps even a little bit...”

She trailed off as the bell signaling the start of school chimed. Alarmed, she shoved the cards into her bag and returned the staff to its key form. “Oh no, we’ll be late!” she said, in a sudden panic. “C’mon, Tomoyo-chan! We’ll see you at lunch, Syaoran!” She grabbed the hand Tomoyo wasn’t holding her camera with and dragged her friend in a frantic rush into the school building. Syaoran followed.

He wasn’t happy at the thought of yet another strange magician interfering in Sakura’s life, but it was her decision. Syaoran resolved to be there with her during any lessons to make sure that she was safe.


	5. Chapter 5

Shion’s second day of school went much like the first. She slipped into her classroom, smiling and greeting the classmates that greeted her. Yanagisawa was already there, and chirped a good morning as Shion took her seat. She had her notebook open and was doodling.

“Is that a tengu?” Shion asked, curious. It was a little off, but she couldn’t deny that Yanagisawa had definite drawing talent.

Yanagisawa beamed. “Yep! Do you like folklore, Natsume-chan?” she asked.

That was a difficult question to answer. At the very least, she was familiar with it. “Yeah,” Shion replied with a nervous smile.

“Good morning!”

Both girls looked up as Yamazaki approached. They echoed him, and he took his seat behind Shion. “Li-kun isn’t here yet?” he asked.

“Nope. It’s a bit strange. Class is starting soon, and it’s not like him to be late,” Yanagisawa said.

Li dashed into the classroom with minutes to spare. He dropped into his seat, panting as though he had run the whole way. Shion twisted around in her chair to look at him. Again, that unnerving jolt. She turned quickly to face forward. Just what was it with this boy? And what was going on with her?

She would have to ask Fai-san about it later. As soon as she had the thought, she dismissed it. No, she was already weird enough. And what would she even say? There’s a boy in my class, I barely know him, but he feels like he’s me? It sounded crazy even in her own head.

She glanced back again as the teacher entered the classroom. Li was looking back at her. They stared at each other for a moment, a weird current running between them. Shion dropped her eyes first, and turned back to the front. Fai always told her to trust her intuition, but she wasn’t sure what message it was trying to send.

She had almost forgotten about the strange sensation by the time lunch rolled around. Shion gathered her lunch and her book quickly, intending to duck out before anyone could talk to her as she had in her previous schools. While shopping yesterday, she found a little bookstore. With enormous self-restraint, she managed to leave without getting sucked into the shelves for hours, but a book about ancient Rome caught her eye, and, well, she bought it. Her plan was to find a quiet spot to eat her lunch and read, but a hand on her shoulder brought her to a halt.

Shion turned, but of course it was Li. He was looking at her very seriously, and her stomach did its little drop and flop.

_My eyes._

_Not mine._

_Get a grip, Shion._

“Yes?” she asked, amazed that her voice came out normal, given how confused she was.

She and Li were the same height, which she hadn’t noticed until now. It put them exactly at eye level.

Li dropped his hand from her shoulder as soon as he had her attention. “I was wondering... Do you want to eat lunch with us again?” he asked.

“Oh...” Shion said, but she couldn’t think of a way to refuse. She was all jumbled up. Did he feel it too? “Okay. Thanks.”

He smiled at her, and she felt her discomfort ease. Whatever was going on, at least he seemed nice.

Shion was absorbed in the happy, chattering group that headed down to the courtyard. “You know, about Rome,” Yamazaki said, apparently noticing the book in her hands.

“Yes?” Shion asked politely, turning to him. He at least was taller than her.

“Did you know that the reason that ancient Romans wear togas is because one of the Roman kings, while in the bath, realized he was late for an important appointment. In a hurry, he wrapped himself in a curtain and dashed out. When his advisers asked what he was wearing, he said it was the newest fashion trend. Soon, everyone was wearing them!” Yamazaki said.

Baffled, Shion blinked at him. “But that’s not true at all,” she said. “The toga was an outer garment, worn over a tunic. It’s thought to have evolved out of the Etruscan _tebenna_.”

“Ah,” Yamazaki said. Odd, how his expression didn’t change at all.

Li just looked blank. Yanagisawa smothered a laugh. “I think Yamazaki-kun should have chosen to lie about a topic Natsume-chan doesn’t know,” she said.

They stepped out the doors to the courtyard, and Shion had to shield her eyes from the bright sun. It was a beautiful day, full of the warmth of early summer. It smelled like sunshine and grass. Shion felt her mood perk. She loved being outside.

“Hey!” That was Mihara, greeting them from her spot on the grass. The girls, who Shion now knew were from Class 2, had made it outside before them again. “Oh, Natsume-chan is eating with us again?”

Shion flushed at the sudden attention as the others looked at her. “Li-san invited me,” she said, glancing at him.

“Yeah. I hope that’s okay,” Li said. He picked a spot next to Daidouji, which put him across from Kinomoto. Yanagisawa had told Shion that they were dating. It seemed to be true, because they gave each other dopey smiles before Kinomoto looked up at Shion.

“It’s perfectly fine!” Kinomoto said with a smile. It might just be Shion’s imagination, but she seemed a bit off today. Like her smile wasn’t as bright as it had been the day before.

Of course, she was being silly. Shion had only met her the previous day. She couldn’t pretend to know the other girl well.

Shion hovered, uncertain. She didn’t want to disrupt the group dynamics by taking someone else’s spot, but where should she sit...? Li noticed her hesitation and gestured for her to sit next to him, which she did, quickly spreading out the cloth she had brought just in case they did invite her to sit with them again (even though she’d thought they wouldn’t).

Shinomoto was on her other side, and as Shion set her book down to unwrap her lunch, she noticed Shinomoto staring at the cover. Their eyes met for an instant - Shinomoto’s were a lovely shade of blue - before Shinomoto flushed and babbled out an apology, “Sorry! I didn’t mean to be nosy. I just love books.” She raised her hands as though to prove to Shion that she hadn’t been planning to steal Shion’s book, which wasn’t something Shion had worried about at all.

“I like books too,” Shion said gently, hoping to reassure her. “This one is non-fiction, though.”

“That’s okay! I like non-fiction and stories,” Shinomoto said firmly. There was a bright enthusiasm in her eyes that was terribly endearing. 

“You can borrow it when I’m done reading, if you want,” Shion heard herself offer, and was astonished with herself. She wasn’t forward. But Shinomoto looked delighted.

“Could I? I’d love that!” Shinomoto said, clapping her hands and beaming. Her smile was as bright as Kinomoto’s had been the previous day. It was like looking at the sun. “Thank you!”

“I like books, too, but I like ghost stories best,” Yanagisawa said. “The creepier the better.”

Kinomoto looked uneasy. “How is your play coming along?” Daidouji asked Yanagisawa, changing the subject.

“I’m still stuck,” Yanagisawa admitted. “It’s harder than I thought.”

“You’re writing a play?” Shion asked. That was impressive. “It sounds difficult.”

Yanagisawa smiled at her. “Yeah, I’m in the drama club. We can perform plays we write ourselves, so I’m working very hard.”

“Have you decided on a club yet, Natsume-chan?” Kinomoto asked.

The question caught Shion off guard. To be honest, she hadn’t put much thought into it, but... “Well, I like sports,” she said. “Especially soccer. I don’t know if they’ll let me join this late in the year, though.”

“I’m sure they will. Are you good?” Yamazaki asked.

It seemed almost conceited to admit it, but... “Yes,” Shion said, firmly.

“Then it’ll be fine.”

Yamazaki said it so simply and sincerely that it was impossible to disbelieve him. Something in Shion relaxed. Yeah, the soccer club would be nice. Maybe she’d ask about it after school.

The conversation turned to other topics, and Shion ate her lunch. It was a relief not to have the focus be on her. The novelty would wear off soon enough, and then they wouldn’t be interested in her anymore. That was a depressing thought, but it lined up with her past experience. Maybe, if she was lucky, they’d still let her eat lunch with them sometimes. As long as she wasn’t too weird...

“You lunch looks delicious,” Kinomoto commented after a while. Shion looked over, and realized that it was _her_ lunch that Kinomoto was talking about. “Did you make it yourself?”

Shion flushed. “Well, usually I do. But Fai-san made it today,” she said. But she was pleased that his cooking had been praised. He was good at it.

Kinomoto and Li both jolted. “Fai-san?” Li asked. He sounded like he was struggling to be calm, which puzzled Shion.

“Yes? He’s my guardian,” Shion said.

“Your guardian? What about the rest of your family?” Daidouji asked.

Well, that was always an uncomfortable topic. “My parents died when I was little,” Shion said. “I don’t have any close blood relatives, though I did live with my extended family for a while.”

She could see sympathy on their faces, and to be honest Shion didn’t like that.

“I see,” Daidouji said. She glanced at Sakura. “Is Fai-san kind, at least?”

“Oh, yes!” Shion said. She wouldn’t have anyone thinking poorly of Fai. He was one of the best things that had ever happened to her. First had come Nyanko-sensei, then Saisei, then Fai. He was precious. “Fai-san is very kind. He takes very good care of me.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Kinomoto relax. “Really? That’s great,” she said.

Shinomoto leaned closer, making Shion’s skin prickle with awareness. It wasn’t unpleasant, but it was strange. “I live with someone who isn’t blood family, too,” she told Shion, who wasn’t used to having people confide in her. “Family that you choose is just as good.”

Shion beamed at her. “Yeah, definitely!” she said. Shinomoto flushed with surprise, but smiled back.

On their way back to the classroom after lunch, Li hung back and grabbed Shion’s wrist. It wasn’t painful, but Shion was surprised by the abrupt contact. “What is it?” she asked.

“He’s a responsible person? Your Fai-san?” he asked.

He looked so serious. Worried, Shion nodded. “Yes. He’s quiet, and kind, and responsible,” she said. She wondered if Syaoran was concerned for her, or something else. No, it couldn’t be concern for her. He didn’t know her. Though, he did say that he felt like he did...

“And he’s trustworthy?” Li was holding both of her shoulders now, and Shion was a bit alarmed. Strangely, she didn’t feel unsafe or as though she needed to hit back, as she would have if it were another boy grabbing her. There was something about Li that she trusted, even though she didn’t know enough about him to justify feeling that way.

“Yes, absolutely,” Shion said, staring him straight in the eyes so that he would know how serious she was.

For a moment, his grip tightened. Then he released her. “All right,” he said, nodding slowly. He took a step back. “For some reason, I trust you. I don’t know why.”

“I trust you too. That’s why I didn’t kick you just now,” Shion said, perhaps a bit too honestly.

Li looked startled, then smiled. “Thanks for not doing that,” he said. “I’d like to be your friend.”

“Me too. I’d really like that,” Shion said. It was safer not to have friends, but whatever connection there was between them told her that this boy would be a good friend to have. She would have to trust that was true. And maybe that involved being brave. “Why are you so worried about Fai-san?” she asked.

He didn’t want to answer. Shion could tell. But he did. “It concerns someone important to me. I need to make sure he’s safe for that person to be around,” he said. His hands were clenched into fists at his sides.

This, at least, Shion could answer with absolute certainty. “Yes. He’s safe. Fai-san is one of the kindest, most honourable people I know,” she told Li. “He would never intentionally cause harm. I believe that with my whole heart. I swear. Your important person will be safe with him.”

They stared at each other, then Li’s hands relaxed. “I really do trust you,” he murmured. “Because when you say it, I believe it.”

And that was one of the nicest things Shion had ever been told.

“We should hurry back to class, or we’ll get in trouble,” she said, a bit embarrassed but mostly pleased. “But I hope things work out for your friend.”

“Yeah. Thanks.”


	6. Chapter 6

“You can go on ahead,” Sakura told Chiharu as the cheerleading club dispersed after practice. “I need to make a phone call.”

“Sure. See you tomorrow!” Chiharu said.

Sakura watched to make sure all of the other club members had left. She had told Syaoran and Tomoyo about her intention to call Fai after school to accept his offer to train her. Syaoran wanted to be with her for the phone call, but she assured him that she would be all right on her own. It was just a phone call. Once she and Fai decided on a date and time to meet up, she would text Syaoran the details so that he could accompany her.

That Syaoran cared so much and wanted to protect her made her happy, but Sakura knew that there were some things she had to handle on her own. Anyway, she felt much more certain now than she had this morning. The conversation with Natsume at lunch had reassured her. Her new friend seemed nice, if a little shy. And she could tell Syaoran really liked her.

Speaking of Natsume, Sakura should ask if she could call her by her first name. Or, maybe not. It might be too soon, since Natsume was a little distant still. Sakura should wait until Natsume had warmed up to her more.

But first, she had to call Fai.

Sakura sat on the steps of the school, near the door by the sports field. She was nervous as she selected his name from her list of contacts, but he answered promptly. Unfortunately, his answer wasn’t in Japanese. “Um, um,” Sakura stammered, caught off guard and not sure what to say.

There was an incomprehensible series of sounds, then, “Sorry, sorry. I just automatically... This is Fai. How can I help you?”

Oh, good. Sakura let out a deep breath in relief. She had the right number.

“Hello?”

“Ah! Yes. This is Kinomoto,” Sakura said, realizing that she’d been quiet too long. “I’m sorry to bother you. I thought about your offer, and I decided I do want you to train me.”

As expected, asking something of a stranger made her heart pound with nerves.

“Of course. When do you have time?” Fai asked.

* * *

They arranged to meet that evening at Penguin Park. Sakura didn’t want to explain things to her dad and her brother, so she didn’t want to have her lessons at her house. Penguin Park was usually deserted this time of night, so Sakura thought it would be a good alternative.

Sakura and Syaoran walked there together. And since Sakura had to fill Kero in on what was going on, she ended up with both him _and_ Suppi tagging along in her bag. Although she didn’t understand what was going on, Suppi insisted on going where Kero went. She supposed it would be rude to leave him alone in her room, so she agreed to bring him. He was quieter and better behaved than Kero anyway, so she didn’t think it would be a problem.

When they arrived at the park, it was empty, just as Sakura hoped. Suppi’s head popped out of her bag. “I sense a strong power,” he remarked.

“Eh?” Sakura looked down at him. Then she closed her eyes and opened her senses to try and detect what Suppi sensed.

And like a blaze of light, it was there. A very strong power.

Sakura opened her eyes and headed in the direction of the magic she sensed. “Is this that magician’s magic?” Kero asked, popping his head out next to Suppi’s. He kept his voice soft. “Amazing. I hardly sensed him when he came to the house.”

“He must hide his power normally,” Suppi remarked. “It takes a strong magician to be able to do that.”

Syaoran stuck close to her side as they headed into the wooded area that bordered the park. He still wasn’t happy about this, but he respected her decision. Fai would have to earn his trust, Sakura knew.

They didn’t have to walk far into the trees before they found Fai. He was walking slowly in a circle. His lips were moving, but Sakura couldn’t hear what he was saying, or even if he was saying anything at all. In his wake he left a trail of thick thread, like twine. Once he reached the place where he started, he tied the two ends of the thread together, forming a circle. He straightened, and looked over his shoulder to smile at Sakura and Syaoran. “Good evening,” he said.

Sakura bowed. “Good evening! Sorry to keep you waiting,” she said.

Fai walked around his circle to them. “Not at all. I got here early. I wanted to ward the practice area.” He must have noticed Sakura’s confusion, because he explained further. “Practicing magic can cause it to behave in unexpected ways in the untrained. With this ward up, your magic will be contained within the circle instead of going all over the place and making trouble.”

“I see,” Sakura said. Syaoran had grabbed her hand and was holding it hard, but Fai stopped Syaoran when he moved to step in the circle with her.

“It’s best if you stay outside the wards. Sakura-san’s small friends as well,” he said. “It’s the best way I can ensure your safety.”

Kero and Suppi had hidden in Sakura’s bag before Fai turned around, but he still knew they were there. Sakura handed her bag with Kero and Suppi inside to Syaoran. Kero poked his head out to frown at Fai.

“Don’t you do anything to hurt Sakura,” he warned. He was trying to look threatening, but mostly his eyes were scrunched up. “We’ll come after you if you do.”

Fai didn’t look offended. “Of course not. I’m here to help,” he assured them. “And what are your names?”

“I’m Cerberus,” Kero told him.

“I call him Kero-chan,” Sakura explained. Cerberus was a long name, and anyway it didn’t suit Kero in this form. He looked like a cute stuffed lion.

Suppi reluctantly left the bag, flying up to hover near Syaoran’s shoulder. “I am Spinel Sun,” he said. “Pleased to make your acquaintance.”

“He’s Suppi!” Sakura said.

“Please, no,” Suppi said. He hated his nickname.

Amused, Fai extended a finger for Suppi to shake. “Nice to meet you. I’m Fai,” he said as Suppi shook his finger with a paw.

Syaoran had remained quiet throughout this exchange. He spoke up now. “Your Japanese is very good. Did Natsume teach you?” he asked.

Fai blinked, then his smile broadened from polite into something more genuine. “Thank you! And yes, she did. She’s a very patient teacher. I’ll strive to be just as good,” he added, looking at Sakura, who smiled. 

“She says you’ve been very kind to her at school,” Fai continued, surprising Syaoran. “Thank you for that.”

Syaoran’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment, and Sakura couldn’t help but smile. “You don’t need to thank me for that,” Syaoran mumbled. “She’s my friend.”

Syaoran was looking down because he was embarrassed, so he didn’t see Fai’s eyes light up. But Sakura saw it. _’He must love Natsume-chan a lot,’_ she thought. She knew that Syaoran would continue to be cautious because it was her safety on the line, but she trusted Fai. She stepped into the circle.

“Okay, what do I need to do?” she asked.

Fai stepped into the circle after her and sat on the grass. Sakura knelt across from him. “First, I want to understand what your power is doing. I understand that it’s been going out of control, but how has that been manifesting?”

Sakura explained about the new key and the Clear Cards. How when she split Blade with her magic, it changed from scissors into two swords, and how when she was thinking about how to fix the classroom curtains, the Repair card was born. Fai listened intently, and Syaoran, Kero, or Suppi occasionally added something. He asked some questions about how she captured the cards, and what were the similarities and any differences between now and her original capture of the Clow Cards.

“I see,” he murmured. “And you’ve been having strange dreams as well? Or was it just when the key changed?”

“No, there have been other dreams as well. I have a recurring dream where I’m standing in a dark place across from someone who is completely covered by a hood and robe. Sometimes there are gears in the background,” Sakura replied. Her hands clenched. She wouldn’t tell him that sometimes the person under the hood was revealed to be Syaoran. That was impossible. It couldn’t possibly be him.

She glanced at Syaoran, who was kneeling outside the circle with Kero and Suppi on each shoulder. He smiled to encourage her, but he was tense as well. She managed a smile back.

And she felt silly saying it, but... “Sometimes I also have dreams about Alice,” she said.

“Alice?” Fai asked, looking puzzled.

Sakura was even more embarrassed. “Yes. From _'Alice in Wonderland'._ I don’t know what they mean. Sometimes they’re fun, but sometimes they’re sad or scary.”

“Hmm,” Fai hummed, tapping his fingers against his chin. Sakura thought he resembled Akiho a little, like the blue eyes and the shape of their faces. But maybe that was because they were both European. After all, Akiho’s hair was more ash blonde, while Fai’s had more yellow. But the resemblance was there.

“I don’t know much about dreamseeing,” Fai admitted. “I’m not a seer. I would have to look into it to see what they might mean.”

Sakura was a bit disappointed, but she understood. She was the one having the dreams, and she didn’t even understand them! Neither did Kero, Syaoran, or Suppi. Maybe Eriol would, but she still couldn’t contact him.

“As for the other, it sounds like you’re unconsciously mimicking the magic system that you’re familiar with,” Fai continued.

“Huh?”

“Different cultures have learned different ways of channeling their magic. As an example that you’re familiar with, Clow Reed is well known for developing a magic system that merges Eastern and Western systems of magic. Now, this is a bit of an oversimplification because there aren’t just two systems of using magic.” Fai made an equivocal gesture. “There are far more than that. But out of all the ways your magic could be manifesting, it has chosen the way that you’re familiar with from your capture of the Clow Cards.”

“You mean Sakura’s magic is turning into cards because she’s used to capturing Clow Cards?” Kero asked. He’d crossed his arms over his chest as he thought.

“It does make sense,” Suppi said. “Ordinarily the first thing to come to mind is what you’re familiar with, after all.”

“Yes. And it’s _your_ magic,” Fai said. “It’s part of you. Even when it’s at its most out of control, it’s going to behave in a way you would expect. Because of the task Clow Reed left you of collecting Clow Cards, you actually have received a small amount of training in magic. Which is good, because it makes your magic more predictable.”

“It’s behaving in a way I would expect,” Sakura repeated in a murmur. She could see the sense in that. She could also see what he wasn’t saying, that if she hadn’t collected the Clow Cards, she might not have a way of getting her bursts of magic under control. Because she had sealed the Clow Cards, she knew how to seal her own magic into cards. Otherwise, when Gale had attacked her that first morning, she wouldn’t have known how to stop it. But she did.

There was comfort in that, in knowing that she still had a bit of control even when her magic was out of control.

“We’re going to work on increasing your control. The first step of that is to increase your awareness,” Fai continued. “As I understand it, you didn’t realize at first that the cards you were collecting were created by you. This is because you have a limited awareness of your own magic. It has improved, since you can now tell the difference between what is your magic and what is someone else’s, but it needs to be higher.”

Sakura nodded firmly. “Okay,” she said. She wanted control. She would work hard, so that she didn’t cause trouble for others.

“A caveat,” Fai said, raising a finger. “This is going to backfire at first.”

“Eh?” Sakura said.

“That doesn’t sound good,” Kero said.

But Syaoran remained silent. Sakura could tell from the look on his face that he knew what Fai meant, and that he wasn’t happy about it. He didn’t argue, though, so maybe he saw this step as necessary.

“As you become more aware of your magic, you’ll initially become overly conscious of it,” Fai explained. “This is normal and expected. For a magician with a normal amount of power, this isn’t a huge problem. But it means that, until your awareness changes to control, the rate at which you create new cards will increase rather than decrease. If I do my job right, and you work hard, this will be temporary.”

Oh. “Syaoran mentioned something like that,” Sakura said. “When I first realized that I was the one creating the new cards. He said that he didn’t tell me because once I knew, I might become overly conscious of it and make things worse.”

She could see Syaoran nod out of the corner of her eye. He and Fai were on the same page about this.

“Exactly. But you know now. The time where your ignorance could protect you has passed. Now we have to work on your awareness and control so that it doesn’t become the worst case scenario.” Fai reached into the bag beside him and drew out a plain wooden bowl and a bottle of water. He poured the water into the bowl and placed it between them.

“This is going to be your focus. It’s to help your concentration, as we’re going to start with meditation. A focus can be different things, but I’ve chosen water to start with as it’s what works best for me. We will have to experiment to see if water or another element is best for you.”

“Okay,” Sakura agreed.

“All right. Now, focus on your breathing...”

* * *

Kaito paused in the act of pouring tea. There it was again, that strong power. He had been sensing it off and on ever since that magician had broken through his spells. He knew it was the same person, but whenever he tried to zero in on them, their presence disappeared.

Just like it did now.

It was a bit frustrating, but Kaito was confident that he would catch them eventually. What was more concerning was not that they hid from him, but that they _could._ That meant a magician with power strong enough to rival his own. He had suspected as much when they were able to enter Japan.

Well, Kaito had always been the strongest. That would still hold true.

“Kaito-san?”

Akiho saying his name broke him out of his thoughts. She was sitting on the loveseat, watching him with concern. “Is something wrong?” she asked.

Kaito put a reassuring smile on his face. “Yes, I’m sorry. I was distracted for a moment. Would you like some cherry cake as well? I made it earlier.”

Akiho beamed. “Oh, yes! It sounds delicious,” she exclaimed, putting her hands together.

“I’ll just be a moment then,” Kaito said. Once outside the room, he tried again to locate the source of the power, but it had vanished entirely. He frowned. Odd. Currently he couldn’t sense Sakura, either. So his suspicions were correct, and the other magician was here to interfere. If that was the case, then Kaito would meet them eventually.

Kaito returned with a silver tray with two plates of cherry cake on it. There were cherries artfully arranged in the cream on top, and Akiho cooed over it as she did most things he made. “It looks splendid!” she said. She dug in her fork and took a bite. “It’s delicious.”

“I’m glad,” he said, smiling. “Now, you were telling me about the new transfer student?”

“Oh, yes,” Akiho said. She took another bite of her cake. “She just moved here from Finland with her guardian, though she’s originally from Japan. She seems nice so far.” Akiho paused for a moment and smiled softly. “She said I could borrow her book when she’s finished reading it.”

“If she’s a reader like you, I’m sure you’ll get along very well,” Kaito said, smiling for her again.

Akiho’s cheeks went pink, with shyness Kaito thought. “I hope so,” Akiho said quietly. “I’d like to be friends with her.”

“Well, you could invite her over sometime,” Kaito suggested. It wasn’t reaching much to notice that the girl had transferred to Akiho’s middle school shortly after that magician broke into Japan. It could be a coincidence, of course, but Kaito wasn’t inclined to think so. “If she likes books, I’m sure she’d love to see the library.”

Akiho smiled. “Yeah. I’ll ask her when I get to know her better,” she said.

“Sounds like a plan.” Kaito looked forward to the opportunity to suss her out and determine if she was related to the other magician. And whether she had any magical power of her own.


	7. Chapter 7

Shion woke early on Sunday and got dressed in shorts and a comfy hoodie. Despite her efforts to be quiet, both Saisei and Nyanko-sensei were awake by the time she was pulling on her socks.

Saisei draped their doll-sized body over Shion’s shoulder, wiping the sleep from their eyes with one hand. “Is it exploration day?” they asked, a thread of excitement running through their voice.

“Of course it is,” Nyanko-sensei said. He leaped from bed to floor with a loud thud, making Shion wince. She didn’t want to wake Fai. Not because he would disapprove of her adventures - he always let her go wherever she pleased - but because she knew he often had trouble sleeping. On days he could sleep in, she liked to let him.

Shion pulled her backpack out of the closet. “Are you both coming too?” she asked.

“Of course!” Saisei said, clasping their small hands. “I haven’t been out of the house in days! I want to see what the town is like.”

Nyanko-sensei didn’t bother to answer, just thumped down the stairs after her.

Shion hadn’t needed to worry. Fai was already awake and puttering around in the kitchen. Shion paused in the doorway, noting the dark shadows under his eyes and the way his mouth set like he was in pain. The air was full of the scents of vanilla and sugar, and Fai pulled a pan of muffins out of the oven. He spotted Shion as he set it on the counter to cool. “Good morning,” he said. He managed a wan smile and took his oven mitts off.

“You didn’t sleep well?” Shion asked. She set the backpack down on the tabletop. There were two bentos in the fridge that she made last night for herself and Nyanko-sensei. She put them in her backpack. Saisei didn’t need one, since angels didn’t eat. “Was it nightmares again?”

“Yes,” Fai said. He didn’t like to talk about them, and Shion didn’t pry. All he would ever say was that he remembered his past life. Shion thought that his past life must have been awful for dreams about it to wake him up screaming in the middle of the night.

“Should I stay?” Shion asked.

But Fai shook his head. “No. Please. You have plans for the day, don’t you?” He gestured to her backpack. “Go ahead. I was planning to bake and nap anyway.”

Shion hesitated. She hated to leave him alone when he wasn't well, but she also didn't want him to feel like he had to put on a brave face for her if she stayed home. And he would, she knew. 

“All right,” she said. “I'll have my phone with me, so call if you need me. Promise?” She waited for his nod. “Okay. I'll help you make breakfast.”

After eating breakfast with Fai and Nyanko-sensei, Shion put her shoes on and headed out. Fai was still puttering around in the kitchen, and despite his insistence that he would nap, she fully expected to find him there still when she returned home.

Shion liked to wander to orient herself in a new place. This habit came from the days where she was living with a string of different relatives and didin’t feel comfortable at “home”, so she spent most of her time wandering unsupervised around unfamiliar locales. Today she wanted to explore the wooded areas around town, but first she would familiarize herself with the streets.

She and her two friends wandered up and down the city streets, pausing to peer into the windows of shops that looked interesting. Shion was drawn to bookstores, and Nyanko-sensei had to be pulled away from restaurants and bakeries. Saisei was happy to look at anything, but was most interested in watching the people they passed.

They had lunch in a nice park with a giant penguin-shaped slide in the middle. There were a lot of families with young children playing on the equipment and running around on the grass, enjoying the warm summer weather, so Shion picked a quiet out-of-the-way spot where there was no one to remark on her giving a bento to a cat. Nyanko-sensei smacked her leg impatiently while she unwrapped his bento. Shion nudged him away and set the bento on the blanket she’d spread out.

“There. So impatient,” she chided, but patted his back as he started snarfing down food like he hadn’t eaten in a hundred years.

Shion unwrapped her own bento while Saisei hovered nearby. When she was little, Shion had felt bad when Saisei watched her eat. It felt rude, although Saisei insisted that angels did not eat. They had no need to. They got all the energy they needed from the sun. Milk was the only thing Saisei was permitted to ingest, but they didn’t care for it. If they had no need to eat, Saisei didn’t see the point.

They did, however, seem fascinated with the rituals and cultural importance that humans placed on food.

“Madara always eats your food like it’s very delicious,” Saisei said now, using Nyanko-sensei’s real name rather than the nickname Shion’s father gave him. They patted Nyanko-sensei’s head with a tiny hand and darted away when he snapped his teeth at them.

Shion smiled since Saisei was trying to give her a compliment. “If he enjoys it, I’m glad,” she said. Nyanko-sensei glowered but said nothing. He had never complimented Shion’s cooking before and she didn’t expect him to start now.

The day was warm and humid, but it was nice and cool in the shade where they ate their lunch. Movement caught Shion’s eye. It was a group of tiny spirits peeking out from beneath the protective cover of a nearby bush. They must have been attracted to the scent of the food.

Each spirit was barely bigger than Shion’s hand and posed little threat. They recognized Nyanko-sensei as another spirit and ventured closer despite his glaring. Saisei swooped down to get a better look at them, and the small spirits retreated, stumbling over each other in their haste to get back under cover. They didn’t go far. Once they were back under the foliage, their faces peeked out from among the leaves.

Shion smothered a giggle with her hand. She didn’t want to startle them with the noise. The small spirits were cute, for all that some of them had too many eyes and some too few. But Shion was used to peculiar creatures, and she had a soft spot for the timid ones.

Nyanko-sensei grumbled his disapproval but didn’t stop Shion as she laid out her handkerchief and topped it with an onigiri and a tamagoyaki from her own bento. She set the food-landen handkerchief close to the bush so the spirits wouldn’t have to venture too far from under their safe spot to get it.

The spirits cheered and surrounded the food, taking little bites. Their voices were too high and quiet for Shion to understand, but she could read joy and pleasure in their gestures, and she smiled.

“So you _can_ see them.”

The voice behind Shion made her jump. Saisei dove into her bag as Shion turned. It was the boy from the other day in the grocery store. The one who had stared at Nyanko-sensei.

He was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt with a bag like hers over his shoulder. He didn’t look appalled or accusing, but she couldn’t read his face at all.

Shion’s heart slammed against her ribs. She had been caught doing a strange thing. Nothing good ever came from that. “Excuse me?” she asked. She forced herself to stay in place although what she wanted to do was scoop up Nyanko-sensei and her bag with Saisei inside and run.

He gave her a small half smile. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said. “I just meant, you can see those small guys too, right?” He gestured to the small spirits who were still clustered around the food but had stopped eating to watch him.

After a moment’s hesitation, Shion nodded. He could see them! It was so rare for Shion to meet someone else who could see. Part of her was always happy to meet people who could see the things that she did because it meant that she wasn’t so alone, but experience had taught her that not everyone with powers like hers meant well. And he might be an exorcist, so it was best to be cautious.

She had not had good experiences with exorcists.

Nyanko-sensei moved to stand between Shion and the stranger, who eyed him but did not seem offended. Instead, he said, “I’ve never seen a spirit like you before,” to Nyanko-sensei, who puffed up in offence.

“How rude! I am a majestic beast!” he growled. Shion pulled him onto her lap and held him there so he wouldn’t pick a fight. If the boy wasn’t hostile, she didn’t want to provoke him into anything. The boy didn’t seem bothered, and if she wasn’t mistaken, there was the faintest of smiles on his face.

Well, he didn’t seem like a bad person, but Shion wasn’t going to let her guard down just yet. “He was sealed in a lucky cat statue for a while, a long time ago,” she said, because there was no harm in telling him that. “So he has this form now. But his true form is really cool!” she added, as Nyanko-sensei began to tremble with rage in her arms.

The boy was smiling for real now, though it was small. “Oh, really? He doesn’t look so tough to me,” he said, and laughed when Nyanko-sensei’s eyes flashed and he writhed in Shion’s arms, yowling about teaching the brat a lesson. Shion tightened her hold. “Sorry. I’m Kinomoto Touya,” the boy said after a good chuckle. “Can I sit with you?”

“Eh? Kinomoto?” Shion asked. Was he related to Kinomoto Sakura? They didn’t look much alike, Shion thought, but she didn’t have any siblings. She wasn’t sure how alike they were supposed to look.

“Yeah. You go to school with Sakura?” he asked as if reading her thoughts. Shion nodded and Touya sat down on her blanket without waiting for permission. Well, she was going to, so she supposed it was okay. “She’s my sister. Are you that transfer student she’s been talking about lately? The most recent one.”

Shion flushed. Kinomoto talked about her to her family? She’d never assumed that people thought about her when she wasn’t around. “Yes. I’m Natsume Shion,” she said.

They exchanged ‘nice to meet you’s. It would be a lie for Shion to say that knowing he was her schoolmate’s brotehr didn’t assuage some of her worries.

“How’s Sakura been at school?” Touya asked. He was watcing the small spirits, which had gone back to eating when they realized that he wasn’t going to bother them.

Surprised, Shion looked up at him. “Well, I don’t know her very well yet,” she said, a bit flustered.

“I see. I can’t be with her all the time, so I’d appreciate it if you’d help me look out for her,” Touya said.

“Oh. Okay.” Shion was surprised into agreeing. But after a moment of thought, she had to ask. “Um... Touya-san...?” she said tentatively. When she wasn’t frowned at or chastised for using his given name (calling both him and her schoolmate Kinomoto would be confusing), she proceeded. “Why would you trust me to look after her? We’ve just met.”

He finally looked at her. He had that faint smile on his face. Maybe he wasn’t very expressive, like her.

“You see what I see,” he said, gesturing to the spirits. “Almost no one does. And you’re kind to them.” This time he gestured to the food she had laid out, which was almost gone now. “That’s even rarer. So I think you’re a good person. And Sakura likes you and wants to be your friend, and she isn’t friends with people who suck.

Shion blushed. “Kinomoto does...?” She wanted to be Shion’s friend? That was so sweet that Shion had to clench her fists under Nyanko-sensei’s belly to keep from crying. “I’d also like to be her friend,” she admitted, looking down in shyness. “I’d be happy to look out for her.”

To her shock, Touya ruffled her hair, something that only Fai and Sakari ever did. “You can start by calling her Sakura,” he said. “That would make her happy.”

“Oh yes, you should!” That was Saisei, poking their head out of her bag now that it seemed safe to do so. They beamed up at Shion. “That boy you like so much too! I want Shion to have lots of friends.”

“And what’s your name?” Touya asked them.

“Saisei. Pleased to meet you!” Saisei flew up and bowed to him, and was pleased when Touya bowed slightly in return. “May I also call you Touya-san?”

“Yeah, of course,” he said. “Is it all right for me to ask... what you are? I haven’t seen a spirit like you.”

“Oh, I’m not a spirit,” Saisei said, amused. “I’m an angel. I’ve been with Shion since she was small.” They looked over their shoulder to smile at Shion, who blushed.

“I met Saisei-san when I was eight,” she explained. “They’ve stayed with me ever since, even though I’ve moved around a lot since then.”

“I didn’t think angels were so small,” Touya remarked.

“That’s...” Shion began.

“We have a regular form and a small form,” Saisei explained. “This is my small form.”

Touya nodded. It seemed to make sense to him. He turned back to Shion. “I need to go to work, but let’s exchange numbers. That way you can call me if you ever need help.”

“Oh... Okay,” Shion said. Saisei seemed okay with him, and he was Kinomoto’s older brother, so it would probably be fine. She held Nyanko-sensei, who was still fuming, with one arm and dug her phone out of her bag. She passed it to Touya for him to input his number. “Um, I don’t know if it’s okay to ask,” she said as he handed her phone back. “But, um, can Sakura-san also...?”

“She never seemed to see anything growing up,” Touya said, anticipating her question. Shion was disappointed. “I don’t know if anything’s changed now. She’s been weird lately.”

“I see.” She didn’t, really. What did he mean by “weird”? It might be prying too much to ask. And Touya said he needed to go to work, so she shouldn’t delay him more.

Touya stood up. “Be careful if you go that way.” He pointed. “There are cliffs.” He stole one of her onigiri and left, waving as he walked away. Shion was too shocked by his audacity to consider telling him off for stealing her food until he was well out of sight.

She was unaware that she was still clutching Nyanko-sensei until he renewed his efforts to get free. “Hey! Let go!” he snapped, wiggling harder. “I wanna eat!”

Startled, Shion released him. He lumbered back to his bento, grumbling to himself. Saisei flew up to Shion’s shoulder and perched there. They stroked Shion’s hair. “You made a friend!” they said, delighted as they eyed Touya’s contact in Shion’s phone, which she was clutching with one hand.

“Yeah,” Shion said, ducking her head. There was a warm feeling in her chest that lasted long after she finished her food and cleaned up. She maintained it as she explored the wooded areas, mindful of the cliffs Touya had warned her about. She went home and had a bath, and ate dinner with Fai. She was still happy when she laid down to go to sleep that night.


	8. Chapter 8

Shion couldn’t stop thinking about what Touya said. It distracted her from her lessons, though she tried to concentrate in class. She would keep her promise to look out for Kinomoto... for Sakura, of course. She wasn’t sure what she was supposed to be helping Sakura with. Was it just in general?

And would Sakura really want Shion to call her by her given name?

Touya had told her to ask, but she wasn’t sure how to bring it up. Especially not in front of everyone else. Lunch break was the only time they were together, after all, since Shion didn’t want to intrude on Sakura’s time before or after school. And it seemed much too forward to come out and ask.

“Is something wrong?” That was Li, looking at her with concern. He always seemed to notice when something was off with her, even before any of the others did.

Shion shook her head. “No, I’m fine,” she said, but she could tell he wasn’t convinced.

“Well, just know you can tell me if you want, okay?” was all he said before he let the subject drop.

He was such a good friend.

Shion wished she had the courage to ask to call him by his given name too. But no one but Sakura, his girlfriend, seemed to, and Shion didn’t want to give people the wrong idea.

“Sakura-san, Tomoyo-san, are you free this Sunday?” Shinomoto asked as they all gathered under the shade of a large tree to eat. 

Sakura turned from her conversation with Mihara, to smile at Shinomoto. “I am!”

“I am as well,” Daidouji confirmed.

“Would you like to come over to my house again?” Shinomoto was smiling, but her hands grasped at her skirt in a way that spoke of nerves. “Li-san and Natsume-san as well, if you’re free.”

This was met with enthusiasm from Sakura and Daidouji, who quickly agreed to visit Shinomoto’s house on Sunday. Li, however, looked troubled.

“Sorry, but I’m busy on Sunday,” he said, which was met with disappointment from the girls.

“Oh, that’s too bad.” At least Shinomoto didn’t look hurt by him declining her invitation. “Maybe next time, then.” She turned to Natsume. “What about you, Natsume-san?”

Shion was caught between anxiety and euphoria. An invitation! To someone’s house! Shion had never been to a friend’s house before. The thought terrified her.

“Um, I’d like to,” Shion said, intending to add a ‘but’ and come up with an excuse why she could not do this desired but frightening thing. But Shinomoto’s face lit up at what she perceived as acceptance.

“Wonderful!” she said, beaming and clapping her hands. “I’m so looking forward to showing you the library. I just know you’ll love it! And I’ll return the book you lent me then, okay?”

“Okay...” Dazed, Shion had to agree. Only a monster would say no now and dim the stars in those eyes. And a library! Shion wanted to see it.

They discussed details. As it turned out, Mihara and Yamazaki were going on a date that day and weren’t available. Yanagisawa wanted to stay home and work on her play. “I just know I’m close to a breakthrough!” she said. “And as they say, you need to strike while the iron is hot!”

So after a week of mixed anticipation and dread, Shion met up with Sakura and Daidouji at Penguin Park, which turned out to be the name of the park where she met Kinomoto Touya. The three of them walked to Shinomoto’s house together, since the other two had been there before and Shion didn’t know where it was.

When it came time to ring the doorbell, Sakura seemed as nervous as Shion herself. Her movements were stiff, and she stammered when announcing her name to the cool male voice on the intercom.

It was cute. Daidouji must have thought so too, because she was chuckling a little as she gave her own name.

Shinomoto opened the door with a huge smile. “Thank you so much for coming!” She took Shion’s hand and pulled her over the threshhold, and Shion felt more welcome than she had felt anywhere ever. “I’m so glad you could make it!”

“Thank you for having us.” Daidouji followed Shion inside while Sakura brought up the rear. Sakura was smiling now, but still seemed shy.

Shion nodded her agreement. Shinomoto’s house was so big and grand! Bigger even than Sakari’s house in Finland! Shinomoto had said that she didn’t live with her family. Did she have this whole big place to herself?

“Um, here,” Shion said when Shinomoto let go of her hand. She held out her visitng gift. She felt like she might puke from nerves, but she couldn’t do that! She would never be invited back.

“Thank you!” Shinomoto smiled and took the pretty white box with the green ribbon.

“Should I take it into the kitchen while I get the snacks?”

Shion didn’t notice the man until he spoke. Or was he a boy? He had a young face, softer than Touya’s, framed by sleek ink-black hair. His eyes were purple, which was a startling feature since the rest of him was all black hair, black suit, and white skin.

He caught her staring as he took the box from Shinomoto, as well as the tea Sakura and Daidouji brought. “You must be Natsume-san.” He smiled politely at her. He had prim manners, but his smile... it reminded her a bit of her own in the mirror, or how Fai sometimes smiled after a nightmare. There was nothing wrong with it, but it was how you smiled when you were just trying to get along with people without them asking too many questions rather than because you were genuinely happy.

Well, he was dressed like a butler, so maybe it was his customer service smile.

“I’m Yuna D. Kaito. I’m pleased to make your acquaintance,” he continued, still with that same smile.

Shion bowed back when he bowed to her. “Yes, I’m Natsume Shion. Nice to meet you, Kaito-san.”

Shinomoto lead them up to her room, which was also big and fancy, and they sat together on sofas around a low table as Kaito brought in a wheeled cart with a tea service.

“You have exquisite taste in tea,” he told Daidouji, who’d picked it out.

“Thank you. I tried to select something that I thought Akiho-chan would like.” Daidouji’s manners were prim and proper as well, but her warmth was genuine as she smiled at Kaito.

So was Shinomoto’s as she tasted the tea and praised Daidouji’s choice. Shion sampled it herself as the others chatted around her. It really was delicious. And it paired well with the little strawberry shortcakes she’d brought, though the compliments the others heaped on her flustered her.

“It’s not really anything special.” Face burning, she tried to stem the flow of praise. It only encouraged them. “I like to bake, and I’m somewhat good at it. That’s all.”

“You made it yourself? It’s delicious! I can’t bake well at all,” Shinomoto said.

Kaito was hovering in case he needed to make more tea, which he timed with a fancy pocket watch attached to his pocket with a thin chain. He broke into the conversation in the middle of refilling Sakura’s cup. “Nonsense. The roll cakes you made last time were delicious.”

Shinomoto blushed and Sakura smiled at her. “But, but, that’s because Tomoyo-san and Sakura-san taught me in a way that was easy to understand! I couldn’t have done it without their help.”

“Well, I’m grateful you have them to support you,” Kaito replied. “But I do think you’re better than you realize.”

Shinomoto blushed from her hairline to her neck. Although it was cute, Shion felt a pain in her chest. _She likes him,_ she realized as she watched Shinomoto watching Kaito. And why did that bother her? There was nothing wrong with liking someone, even if that person was older. Maybe this feeling was worry. For Shinomoto, in case she got her heart broken. After all, Kaito didn’t seem to notice the way Shinomoto was looking at him.

They finished their cake and Kaito disappeared with the empty plates and teacups. “Shall we go to the library now? I’m sure Natsume-san has been looking forward to it,” Shinomoto said. As she said it, she lightly touched Shion’s arm, which sent sparks trailing all the way up to her shoulder.

“Yeah. I’d like to see it,” Shion managed to stammer out, though her head felt fuzzy and the words seemed incoherant. Shinomoto was still holding her arm, and that seemed to be the source of the strange feeling. What was _wrong_ with her?

“It’s this way!” In her enthusiasm, Shinomoto started to tug Shion toward the door. When she realized what she was doing, she hastily let go and apologized.

“It’s fine, it’s fine.” Shion even meant it. “I don’t mind. I love books too.”

“Akiho-chan’s library is really fantastic!” Sakura said, and Daidouji quickly agreed.

“She’s collected books from all over the world.”

Shinomoto smiled a bit shyly. “Well, everyone in my family loves books, so we’ve collected them for a long time. I really do hope you enjoy it.”

“I’m sure I will.”

* * *

Hm. The girl wasn’t what Kaito expected. Tall and slim, with long light brown hair and rich brown eyes. But her shorts showed off strong legs, and she seemed to be observant of her surroundings despite the dreaminess of her expression. There was something about her that was similar to the next successor of the Li clan, but Kaito wasn’t sure if it was her eyes or the way she held herself.

There was power within her, but it wasn’t of a type that he was familiar with. He would have to do some research, he supposed. That wasn’t a problem. It was frustrating, though, that his unfamiliarity with her power meant that he could not determine its strength. Akiho had said that Natsume was absorbed into the friend group quickly, and that it was Li Syaoran who brought her in.

Power attracted power. Perhaps Li could sense it?

A puzzle. But Kaito was good at those.

“Are you satisfied with your inspection?” Momo crossed her legs the other way and nibbled at a square of fudge from the plate in front of her. “She seems like a nice girl. Akiho likes her. She does stare at me a lot though.”

“Does she?” How interesting. Not even Sakura or Li Syaoran seemed able to sense that Momo was more than a plush toy. If Natsume could, that would be telling of her power level. Of course, she could simply find Momo cute. Young girls loved cute things if his time with Akiho was any indicator.

Momo was frowning at him with disapproval. “You’re not thinking of messing with her, are you?”

His smile was innocent. He made sure of it. “I’m quite certain she is related somehow to the magician who broke through my barriers.” As he spoke, he wiped the teacups dry with a small towel and set them upside-down on a rack. “If I need to use her to lure them out, then so be it.”

“Hmph.”

Momo never failed to surprise. “I wouldn’t think you would care so much about some girl.” With the dishes done, Kaito dried his hands and slipped them back into his white gloves. Momo was angry enough with him to have put down her fudge. “What is it?”

“She’s not just ‘some girl.’ She’s Akiho’s friend,” Momo huffed. She settled herself down and picked up her fudge again, stuffing the entire thing in her mouth.

“I suppose. But they haven’t known each other long.” Hmm. Akiho had said that her friends would be staying for dinner. He had better get started, and make sure to have cold drinks ready in case Akiho requested one. As he moved off to open the fridge, he barely heard Momo mutter behind him.

“It’s not the length of time that matters, idiot.”


	9. Chapter 9

Akiho opened the door of her personal library with mixed excitement and anxiety. She really, _really_ wanted Natsume to like it. She thought her new friend would, since Natsume seemed to love books with the same passion that Akiho did. Every time she saw Natsume, the other girl was carrying a different book. Yes, she thought her new friend would like her library. And yet there was the niggling doubt in the back of her mind. The one that she tried to ignore that spoke to her in voices from her childhood.

Her heart pounded as she stepped aside to hold the door for her friends to follow her through. Sakura and Tomoyo had seen her library before, and seemed no less impressed than the first time.

Natsume stopped dead in her tracks just behind Sakura. Her mouth fell open as she took in the rows upon rows of floor-to-ceiling bookshelves lined with books. Old books, new books, books so ancient the words on the spine had worn to faint impressions. Books bound in leather and velvet with titles etched in gold leaf. 

Akiho thought Natsume may have stopped breathing for a second, until she sucked in a gasp.

But she had to ask.

“Do you like it?”

The expression on Natsume’s face when she turned to Akiho was all awe and wonder. “Yes!” she exclaimed with more enthusiasm than Akiho had ever seen from her.

Akiho’s chest filled with a happy glow of pleasure and pride. She was going to reply, but Natsume wasn’t done.

“You have _so many_ books. They’re beautiful!” She darted over to a shelf and leaned forward to inspect it. She clasped her hands behind her back as though she didn’t trust herself not to run her hands over the books if she didn’t keep them in check. “Have you read them all?”

“Yes.” Akiho wondered if that would make her seem odd, to have read so many books in her short lifetime. But when Natsume turned to stare at her, there was awe and maybe a bit of envy in her face.

“ _Really?_ ”

Akiho had to giggle a bit. Natsume was being so cute. “Yes, really.”

“Even these ones?” Natsume pointed to a row of books in German.

“Yes! I got those when I lived in Germany for a while.” Akiho joined Natsume at the shelves and pulled out a slim volume with an illustration of a castle on the front. “This one is full of old German fairytales.”

“Amazing!” Natsume bounced on the balls of her feet. “You lived in Italy and Hong Kong too, right? Can you read Italian and Chinese too?”

“Oh, yes! I can read a lot of languages. It’s my strong point.” And the one thing she could truly take pride in, since she had no other talents.

Natsume made a sound like a muffled squeal. “I’m so jealous. I’ve barely mastered conversational Finnish, and I lived there for two years.”

“What about English?” Akiho asked. “Can you read English at all?”

“Yes, Fai-san taught me. My English is pretty good.”

As they talked, Natsume wandered down the lines of books. Her hands kept darting toward the shelves like she wanted to stroke the spines of the books, then were yanked back as she caught herself. But when they arrived at a shelf full of books on ancient civilizations, all in English, Natsume’s hands made little grasping motions that she didn’t seem aware of as her eyes scanned the shelves hungrily.

“You can touch them, if you want,” Akiho said. She knew the urge of the book-lover well.

“Can I?” Natsume sounded as though Akiho had given her permission to do something taboo but much desired.

“Of course!”

Despite her enthusiasm, Natsume’s hands were careful as she slid a book from the shelf and flipped it open. Akiho half-expected her to start reading and become lost in the pages, as Akiho herself had done an embarrassing number of times. Instead, Natsume stroked the page like one might pet a cat’s head. Then she raised the book to her face and breathed in deeply.

Tomoyo giggled behind them, forgotten until that moment.

Akiho jumped at the sudden reminder that her other two friends were present, and that she was being a terrible hostess by ignoring them. Beside her, Shion jumped as well and lowered the book from her face, flushed with embarrassment.

The awkwardness deepened when they turned to discover that Tomoyo was recording them with her cellphone. “Oh, don’t mind me!” she said merrily as Akiho’s face flushed a hot and rich red. “Please do continue. It’s terribly cute.”

“Yeah!” Sakura agreed, and Akiho’s embarrassment deepened at her enthusiasm. “You look like you’re having fun! You both really love books a lot.”

“Please don’t tease me, Sakura-san,” Natsume said, using the book to shield her red face. It would have been adorable if Akiho wasn’t so embarrassed herself. In fact, Akiho was distracted enough that she didn’t realize what Natsume had said until Sakura’s face lit up in a bright, beaming smile.

“You called me Sakura!”

“Indeed, she did,” Tomoyo agreed.

Sakura was glowing, she was so happy. She skipped forward to take Natsume’s hand as Natsume stammered out apologies. “No, no, please call me Sakura! Can I call you Shion-chan?”

Natsume was so flustered that she could barely form words, but she managed to stammer, “Y-yes.”

“You may call me Tomoyo as well,” Tomoyo added. “I would love to call you by your given name. May I?”

This was her chance! Akiho worked up her courage and laid her hands on Shion’s arm, which was still wrapped around the book she clutched to her chest. “M-Me as well!” It was hard to get the words out, even with Sakura and Tomoyo setting the precedent. “You can call me Akiho. Um, I’d like to call you Shion-san as well!” Her voice was too loud, but Tomoyo and Sakura were still smiling happily.

Shion’s face was now redder than Akiho’s. She could only nod.

Akiho’s heart felt light and warm. “Thank you, Shion-san!”

Shion nodded again and ducked her head to hide her face behind the book once more.

“Great! I’m glad we’re all friends,” Sakura said. She was smiling and still holding Shion’s hand. “I hope we’ll be good friends for a really long time!”

“Me too,” Shion said, poking her head up from behind the book. “I really like you all.” She was smiling a shy, cute smile.

At that moment, they realized that Tomoyo was still recording.

“Tomoyo-chan!” Sakura complained.

“What? It’s a good memory!” Tomoyo said, smiling and completely unrepentant.

“My, you’re quite lively.” That was Kaito’s voice. Akiho could have picked it out of any crowd. The sound made her heartrate pick up, even as she turned to him.

“Sorry for being noisy in the library,” she said.

He smiled his gentle smile, and her heart beat even faster. “Not at all, Akiho-san. It’s your library. I’m just glad you and your friends are having a good time.”

“Yes, we are!” Sakura said. She let go of Shion’s hand, and Shion put the book back on the shelf and began to fiddle with the hem of her shirt.

“I came to bring you something cold to drink,” Kaito said. He wheeled the trolley over to the low seating area and began to set tall glasses of iced tea on the coffee table.

“Thank you so much!” He was so considerate. Akiho was so lucky to have him in her life. “Can I help?” She liked to help whenever she could, but there wasn’t anything for her and Sakura to do when they approached the coffee table.

“No, I have it under control,” Kaito replied.

* * *

_Well_ under control, he thought as he stopped time.

The girls froze in place. Akiho and Sakura smiling near the coffee table, Daidouji on her way over, and Natsume still hovering near the bookshelf. Since Natsume was who he was interested in for the moment, he left the other girls to approach her. He sensed Momo appear in the room behind him, as she tended to whenever she felt something was up, but he did not turn.

“What are you doing now?” Her voice was huffy. She seemed to approve of so little he did, and yet she never attempted to stop him. He suspected she had the power to give him trouble if she truly wanted to, but she seemed content to watch things play out while giving him an earful.

Kaito toyed with his pocketwatch, his magic item. “I want to inspect her more closely.”

“And you needed to stop time for that?” Oh yes, she disapproved.

“Sakura-san might sense it otherwise.” Kaito let his magic flow into his hand. He reached out to Natsume, intending to cast a spell to help determine what kind of power she wielded.

There was a flash that knocked Kaito back a pace, and he withdrew his hand. It stung and bled.

“What happened?” Momo demanded. She was beside him before Kaito recovered from his surprise.

He smiled grimly and examined the burned sections of his glove where the torn and bloody skin showed through. “A rejection,” he said. He tugged off his glove. The wound was not severe, but it was inconvenient. It was his dominant hand, and he would have to keep Akiho and the girls from noticing until he could slip away to bandage it and replace his ruined glove. While he could do it with time halted like this, Momo would get testy if he left time stopped too long, worried as she seemed to be for his health.

“A rejection? From this girl?” Momo glanced at Natsume in astonishment, but Kaito shook his head.

“No. There’s a protection spell placed upon the girl.” Very inconvenient. “Placed there by the same person who broke through my wards. She is certainly involved with that other magician.” It was a powerful one, too, to react so strongly when he hadn’t even touched the girl yet. For the spell to react at all with time stopped... this was an opponent with an incredible amount of power. Stronger than Sakura, certainly.

“Will you remove it?”

Kaito considered. “I could,” he said, “but I suspect the magician would put it back on later. It wouldn’t be worth the magical backlash I would receive in doing so.”

Another point to the mystery magician, it seemed. It was another obstacle, but it hardly mattered. Kaito intended to win in the end.

He tucked his injured hand in his pocket before it could drip blood everywhere and alert the girls to something amiss. The black pants he was wearing should hide the blood long enough for him to finish things here and slip away. “I supposed I’ll have to investigate the magician directly if I can’t learn any secrets from Natsume-san.”

“Is that wise?”

“It’s necessary.”

Whether she agreed with him or not, Kaito did not know. Momo remained silent as he returned to his position at the table. He felt her disappear the instant before he resumed time.

* * *

Kaito was acting weird.

It was subtle, but Akiho could tell. Maybe he wasn’t feeling well again. Or maybe he’d burned himself while brewing the tea and was trying to hide it. He kept his right hand in his pants pocket while he served the girls the iced tea. He excused himself soon after and left the room.

Akiho’s good mood dissipated. She wished he would tell her when he was hurt or not feeling well. Instead, he always hid it.

The others didn’t seem to notice anything amiss. Akiho was jolted out of her thoughts when Sakura leaned forward to talk to Shion.

“You really love books, huh?” Sakura asked, smiling.

“Yes.” Shion seemed like she was finished speaking, but then she flushed and decided to elaborate. “I especially read all the time when I was little. I moved around a lot and didn’t have any friends, so I spent most of my time reading.”

“Oh dear. So you were lonely?” Tomoyo asked, her fingers lightly touching his lips and her glass of tea in her other hand.

“Um, yeah.” Shion admitted it as if it were something shameful. It wasn’t. It was easier for Akiho to believe that when it was someone else experiencing those feelings, rather than her.

She patted Shion’s arm, wanting to comfort. “It was the same for me. There wasn’t anyone my age nearby when I was growing up, so I didn’t have friends either.”

Tomoyo and Sakura both looked sad for them. But then Tomoyo smiled. “Well, you have us now. And even if you both move away again, with phones and the internet, you can’t get rid of us so easily,” she said.

“Yeah!” Sakura agreed. “We can call and send emails and pictures and everything! So if you do go back to England and Finland, please stay in touch, okay?”

Moved, Akiho found herself near tears. And yet she was so happy it felt like her smile stretched her face farther than it could go. “Yes, absolutely!”

Shion’s face flushed and she bit her bottom lip. “Okay,” she whispered.

“Speaking of, I don’t think I have Shion-chan’s phone number,” Tomoyo said.

“Ah, me either! Please, Shion-chan?” Sakura dug out her phone and held it out. It startled a laugh out of Shion, which delighted Akiho because Shion didn’t laugh often.

“Okay, okay, pass it here.” Shion took each phone in turn and entered her number before passing them back to their respective owners.

“Thank you!” Sakura said.

Akiho was so glad she’d invited them all over. It had been a wonderful day. Maybe they would all come play again another time too. She was really lucky to have such good friends now.


	10. Chapter 10

“I’m home!” Shion called as she entered the house.

Saisei zoomed over from the living room, holding out their tiny hands. “Welcome home!” they said, beaming warmth and welcome as Shion took their hands and held them. “Did you have a good time?”

Saisei greeted Shion with the same enthusiasm whether Shion had been gone for minutes or days. It was embarrassing, but also so nice, to have someone be so happy to see her that they didn’t care if they were being over the top. “Yes! Akiho-san has an a amazing library!” Shion said. She let go of Saisei’s hands to take off her shoes while she continued to talk. “She has so many books, and from all over the world. They’re written in German and English and Italian, and some I don’t even recognize. And she- what is it?” Shion paused in confusion. Saisei’s hands were folded under their chin, and there was a strange smile on their face that Shion didn’t understand.

“ _Akiho_ -san?” Saisei asked. Shion’s face got hot. “You were calling her Shinomoto-san when you left this morning.”

Her face must be bright red. Shion pressed her hands to her cheeks, which burned. Oh yes, red as a tomato. “Well, yes, um,” she stammered. “She said I can call her by her given name. S-Sakura-san and Tomoyo-san said so too.”

The halo of light that always surrounded Saisei in Shion’s eyes grew brighter with Saisei’s joy at the news. “Oh, I’m so happy! You’re making friends!”

“Mm-hm,” Shion hummed, embarrassed by the attention, as she slid her feet into slippers and wandered deeper into the house.

The floor vibrated under Nyanko-sensei’s weight as he bolted out from where he had been napping in a patch of sun in the living room. “You’re finally back! I’m starving, Shion!” He batted at her leg to hurry her along as she laughed and headed for the kitchen.

“Okay, okay. Didn’t Fai-san feed you?”

“He did,” Saisai confirmed. “Then he went out. Madara-san has been whining about being hungry ever since.” There was judgment in their eyes as they stared down at Nyanko-sensei, who growled in response.

“Don’t give me that. You don’t even eat, so you can’t understand my pain!” Nyanko-sensei stopped hitting Shion’s leg to wave his paw at Saisei, who was well out of his reach.

Shion laughed, full of affection. These two had bickered constantly ever since Saisei had joined their little “family” when Shion was eight, and Nyanko-sensei had not approved of the interloper. She loved them both very much. “I understand. It’s dessert rather than dinner, then? Is lemon pound cake all right?”

Nyanko-sensei replied with enthusiasm, but he was such a glutton that he would eat anything tasty. Shion shook her head and pulled out the mixing bowls. He was lucky she was so indulgent.

* * *

Home Economics class the next day was reminiscent of her baking session the night before, but instead of pound cake they were making strawberry pie. Shion found herself in a group with Li and Yanagisawa, slicing strawberries while Li cut butter into the flour mixture to make the crust. Yanagisawa had been left in charge of the whipped cream, and she chatted to Shion about a paranormal series she liked while she whisked.

“...So they’re going to do an exorcism there next week. Isn’t that cool?” Yanagisawa asked.

“Mm, yeah,” Shion replied. She was grateful that the event Yanagisawa was talking about would be happening in Osaka and not anywhere close to Tomoeda. “Do you think this is enough strawberries?”

Yanagisawa leaned over to check Shion’s cutting board. “Hm. A few more, I think. We’re supposed to make a pie for each of us,” she said.

“Okay.” Shion pulled another carton of strawberries over and began to hull them.

“By the way, Natsume-san,” Yanagisawa said. She wasn’t always so chatty, but she could talk a lot when she got going. “I heard that Sakura-chan and Tomoyo-chan call you by your given name now.”

Shion blushed. “Yes, that’s right.”

“May I as well? We see each other every day, and I think we’re good friends. But it’s fine if you’re not comfortable.”

Shion’s face went from lightly flushed to as red as the strawberries in her hands. “Um, I mean, if you want,” she said to the strawberries, too embarrassed to look up. “I’d like that.”

“Great! Thank you.” She looked so pleased. Shion smiled back at her.

Shion also couldn’t help but glance at Li, who was on her other side. She wanted to ask him if she could use his given name as well, but she still didn’t have the courage. She sighed as she scooped the sliced strawberries into a bowl. It would be nice to be as bold as Sakura-san about these things, but Shion just wasn’t. Maybe she would work up the courage eventually.

After Home Ec was their lunch break. The morning had been rainy, but now the weather had cleared up. By popular vote, the group decided to eat outside although it would be damp. They found the driest spot they could and laid out their cloths in a loose circle.

Shion shed her shoes and knelt down on her cloth, ignoring the damp that seeped through. She opened her bento while listening to the others chat around her. It was so nice to be part of a group.

A shadow fell over her. Shion glanced up, expecting it to be one of the others. Instead it was a figure with long, unkempt grey hair and a single large eye in the middle of its face. Shion yipped and jumped. Her bento tumbled out of her lap and spilled across the grass.

“Reiko?” the creature asked.

Shion froze, unsure of what to do, and just stared.

“Oh! Shion-chan, what happened?” Naoko asked, staring at Shion’s spilled food.

Oh. Oh no.

Shion tore her eyes away from the spirit. The others couldn’t see it, of course, and she had to get away. “I- I think I got stung,” she stammered, latching onto the first plausible excuse. She stood up and hurriedly shoved her feet into her shoes. “I’ll just- go to the nurse.”

The others looked worried, and Shion felt guilty. But she needed to lure the spirit away in case it attacked her.

Sakura stood up. “I can go with you,” she offered, eyes full of concern.

“No, no, that’s okay. Go ahead and eat. I’ll be right back.” Shion fled, leaving her bag and the mess of her food behind. She felt a twinge of guilt for leaving a mess, but she could feel the spirit’s hot breath on her neck as she ran. She managed to turn the corner of the school building before it caught her.

It grabbed her arm and yanked her back with enough force to lift her off her feet. Shion kicked out but connected with the air. Her vision was full of nothing but that one giant eye. “Reiko, you came,” it said.

“I’m not,” Shion gasped. She clawed at its hand.

“You don’t remember me?” It sounded sad. “Reiko?” That large eye filled up with tears.

And now she pitied it. “I’m sorry,” she said. But that didn’t stop her from bracing her feet on the wall for leverage and punching it in the teeth.

It dropped her with a squeal as it was knocked back. Shion hit the concrete hard and rolled away to scrabble to her feet. She turned to face the spirit and backed up a couple steps to make sure she was out of arm’s reach.

The spirit clutched the spot she hit, but didn’t look inclined to grab her again. “That was mean,” it said.

“Grabbing people is rude. I’m not Reiko,” Shion explained. She was panting from fear and exertion - she had hit the spirit hard with her power behind the punch. She retreated another step. “Natsume Reiko was my great-grandmother. I’m sorry, but she’s been dead for a long time. I’m Natsume Shion.”

“Reiko’s granddaughter?”

“Great-granddaughter,” Shion corrected.

It looked so lost and sad. “Reiko’s dead?”

“Yes.” This was the trouble with spirits. They had no sense of time or how short human lives were compared to theirs. “Were you friends with Reiko?” It didn’t seem like it was going to attack her, but Shion stayed out of reach just in case.

The spirit remained silent for a moment. “She never called me.”

Called? Shion was confused for a moment. “Does that mean your name is in the Book of Friends?”

“It was. Reiko gave it back.”

That didn’t sound right. Reiko took names. She never returned them. The one who returned names was Shion’s father.

She felt a pang. This spirit had met her great-grandmother and her father. It was stupid to be jealous, but she was. Shion barely remembered her father.

“Well, I’m not Reiko,” she repeated. She glanced around, hoping that no other students were nearby. This section of the school grounds seemed to be empty, thankfully. “But if you want, we can be friends. Just don’t grab me like that again.”

“Friends?” it asked. There was a trace of hope in its voice that tugged at Shion’s heart. She knew what it was like to be lonely, after all.

“Yeah. Friends.” This spirit wasn’t going to hurt her. Shion drew in a deep breath and ventured closer to the spirit. She offered a hand and hoped that she wouldn’t regret it. One of the few things she remembered of her father was his belief that it was important to trust others, whether they were humans or spirits. “What’s your name?”

The spirit stared at her for a moment, then at her hand. Then it reached out to wrap its long fingers lightly around her hand. “Hishigaki.”

Shion smiled. “That’s pretty.” She hadn’t been able to tell at first, but she thought now that that Hishigaki was probably female.

“...I’m sorry I hurt you,” Hishigaki said. When Shion looked puzzled, Hishigaki pointed at Shion’s knees. The skin was torn and bloody. At the sight of the blood, Shion became aware of the stinging pain radiating from her knees. She’d probably have big bruises too.

Shion winced. Another thing she would have to make up an excuse for. “Now I really do need to go to the nurse’s office,” she sighed.

“Sorry,” Hishigaki said again, looking anxious. She was probably worried that Shion would change her mind about wanting to be friends.

“It’s okay. It isn’t far.” Shion started toward the door of the school and was surprised that Hishigaki followed. Well, she supposed it didn’t matter. No one would be able to see Hishigaki anyway.

At the nurse’s office she was able to get her knees and another scrape on her left hand disinfected and bandaged. She thanked the nurse before heading back to her friends with Hishigaki trailing behind her. “Now remember, the others can’t see you, so I won’t be able to talk to you around them,” Shion warned.

“I understand.”

Her friends looked up when she approached. “Oh, there you are!” Chiharu said. “We were starting to get worried.”

“What happened to your knees?” That was Li, who still looked worried about her.

Shion’s hands twined together in embarrassment. She hated to lie, especially to people she liked. But it was so often necessary, because normal people didn’t understand. “I tripped on the way to the nurse’s office and scraped my knees,” she said, settling back on her cloth. The scrapes on her knees burned in protest as the skin stretched, and she did her best not to wince.

Someone had cleaned up her spilled food, which was kind. She still felt bad for leaving the mess, especially since it seemed she had never been in any actual danger.

“And the sting?” Akiho asked. “Were you able to get it treated?”

Ah. “Well, it looks like I wasn’t stung after all,” Shion admitted. There was no swelling or redness, which there would be right now if she had actually been stung. She didn’t have any way to prove she had been stung. “I think I was bitten by an ant or something instead.”

“Does it hurt?” Tomoyo asked.

“No, not at all.” That at least was the truth. Her non-existent bite did not hurt.

Sakura nudged Akiho with her elbow. When Akiho looked over, Sakura whispered, “Give it to her.”

Akiho’s face flushed. “I thought you were going to!” she whispered back.

“It was your idea. I think you should.”

“Oh, I agree,” Tomoyo said, smiling.

Akiho looked between them both in apparent embarrassment. Then she picked up Shion’s bento box, which was beside Akiho, slipped her shoes on, and walked over to Shion. She stopped just in front of the edge of Shion’s cloth. “U-um, Shion-san, your lunch was ruined, so we cleaned it up,” she said, stammering with nerves. “And we all took a bit of our lunch for you. So, here.” Akiho held out the bento box with hands that trembled.

“You didn’t have to do that!” Shion blurted, stunned.

“We didn’t want you to go hungry,” Akiho said. She looked so shy, so nervous, so _adorable_ that Shion reached out to take the bento without thinking. There were a couple onigiri, some rolled omelets, assorted vegetables. It wasn’t a huge amount, but it would get her through the day until she got home.

“Thank you,” she whispered. She had to bite her lip to hold back tears. They were all so _kind._ She hadn’t done anything to deserve it.

Akiho’s face lit up with relief and pleasure. “You’re welcome! Everyone likes Shion-san a lot.” Then she fled back to her spot in the circle, leaving Shion red-faced and near tears from joy.

Akiho was so, so _cute _.__


	11. Chapter 11

“What happened?” were the first words out of Saisei’s mouth when Shion got home.

She must be a mess. Her skirt was dirty and her knees and left hand were bandaged. After lunch she had gone to the bathroom to try and tidy her hair, but she wasn’t in the habit of taking a brush to school and her finger-combing hadn’t helped much.

Saisei fluttered around her anxiously, noting each injury with growing worry. “Oh, you’re hurt. How bad is it?” they asked, laying a gentle hand on one of the bandages on Shion’s knee.

Drawn by Saisei’s worry, Fai and Nyanko-sensei came to see what was wrong. “Oh dear,” Fai said when he saw her, his face creasing in sympathy. “Rough day?”

“It was just an incident at lunch,” Shion said, embarrassed by the fussing. “I got a few scrapes, but I’m fine. I went to the nurse and got them disinfected and everything.”

“But how did- eugh!” Nyanko-sensei yelped in surprise when Hishigaki followed Shion through the door. Under other circumstances, Shion might have laughed. The look of shock on Nyanko-sensei’s face was priceless. But he recovered quickly and scowled at Hishigaki. “Hishigaki? What are you doing here?” he asked, squinting suspiciously.

“I met her at lunch. She mistook me for Reiko-san,” Shion explained.

“I apologize for the trouble,” Hishigaki said. Now that she wasn’t grabbing at Shion, she was demure and quiet. She had barely made a peep while following Shion around school, though she had hovered uncomfortably close. Shion had to keep reminding herself that nobody else could see Hishigaki, and that she couldn’t react when Hishigaki leaned in to examine Shion’s notebook or wandered around the soccer field during practice.

“I see. So you’re Hishigaki-san? I’m Saisei! Nice to meet you.” Saisei bowed to Hishigaki in greeting, and she looked pleased and bowed back.

Meanwhile, Fai was smiling like he had no idea what was going on. Because of course, he was the only one here who couldn’t see Hishigaki.

“She’s a spirit,” Shion explained for his benefit. “She knew my great-grandmother.”

Fai’s expression cleared. “Ah.” His eyes tracked where Saisei and Nyanko-sensei were both looking and estimated where Hishigaki must be. He was looking too low, but he was smiling a welcome at Hishigaki so Shion did not correct him. “Welcome, Hishigaki-san.”

Hishigaki seemed pleased, though she was too shy to reply.

“So Hishigaki is the reason you got hurt?” Nyanko-sensei asked, still staring at Hishigaki with narrowed eyes.

“Yeah,” Shion admitted, hoping that wouldn’t start a fight. “It wasn’t on purpose, though.”

“Hmm.” Nyanko-sensei made the ‘I’m watching you’ gesture at Hishigaki before following Fai back to the kitchen to demand scraps while Fai made dinner.

Saisei hovered nearby while Shion took her shoes off and headed up to her room to change. They were still staring when Shion, now dressed in shorts and a tank top, sat at her desk to start her homework. “Is something wrong?” Shion asked. She paused in organizing her pencils. Saisei looked so serious.

“...Did something good happen today?” Saisei asked.

“Huh? Not particularly,” Shion said. Then she remembered everyone giving her bits of food at lunch, and her face heated up.

Saisei’s eyes brightened. “Something _did_ happen!” they said. They bellyflopped onto her bed and rested their chin on their hands. “Tell me!”

Flustered, Shion turned away and stared at the blank page of her notebook while she gathered her thoughts. “It, it wasn’t anything special, really,” she said. Saisei hummed behind her to encourage her to continue. Shion picked at the hem of her shorts. “Well, at lunch, I dropped my bento when Hishigaki startled me.” She felt guilty saying this while Hishigaki was in the room, but Hishigaki was flipping through Shion’s biology textbook and didn’t appear to be listening. “When I came back, the others had cleaned it up. They all gave me pieces of their lunches so that I wouldn’t be hungry.” Just remembering it filled her chest with a happy glow.

“That’s so nice! What else?”

“Huh?” Shion didn’t know what Saisei meant.

“There’s something more. I can sense it. Does it have to do with that girl you like?” Saisei wondered out loud.

Shion’s face flushed red. “I- Akiho-san didn’t do anything special. She just smiled at me, that’s all.”

Saisei gave a happy sigh and fluttered up by Shion’s face. They patted her cheek with a knowing smile. “It’s okay, Shion. A smile is very special when you’re in love.”

Shion was certain that she flushed from her hairline all the way down to her toes. “I- wha-” she stammered and stuttered, trying to tell Saisei that they were _wrong._ Shion wasn’t in love! Love was big and life-changing, and certainly not the soft, fluttery feelings she had for Akiho.

“That’s not it!” was what she finally managed to stammer out. “She’s an important friend, but it’s not like I want to _marry_ her or anything.”

Saisei looked impatient. “Of course not. There are different stages to love. You’re just in the first stage.” Saisei flopped onto their back on the bed and sighed dreamily. “I’m happy for you.”

Their dreamy mood was shattered when Nyanko-sensei pounced on them with his full weight. Saisei made an alarming sound as the air was forced from their lungs. Their little legs, the only part of them visible underneath Nyanko-sensei’s bulk, began to kick frantically. “Madara-san!” their muffled cries could be heard. “This hurts very much!”

“You don’t have to listen to Saisei, Shion,” Nyanko-sensei said, shifting his weight to squish Saisei even more. “A crush isn’t love.”

Saisei managed to squirm their head free. They took a big gulp of air. “But it’s a prelude to love- _gack!_ ” They choked as Nyanko-sensei pinned them down with a paw to their forehead.

At this point, Shion decided to intervene. She didn’t know if angels could be squashed to death, but she didn’t want to find out. She scooped her hands under Nyanko-sensei’s belly and tossed him onto her pillow. In the second it took him to get his feet under him, Shion had lifted up Saisei’s dazed form and tucked them safely in her arms.

“I’ll think about it,” she told Saisei, poking them in the nose before they could start up again. “So stop teasing me, okay?”

There was a pout on Saisei’s face, but they leaned forward to bump their forehead against her chin like a cat. “I wasn’t trying to tease you, truly,” they said. “I’m just so happy that you have people precious to you.”

Shion smiled. “Thank you,” she said. In return for Saisei’s affection, she kissed them on the forehead.

“I hate to burst your bubble,” Nyanko-sensei said, which was a lie. He loved to butt in. “But what are we going to do about Hishigaki?” He pointed a paw at the corner of the room in the classic lucky cat pose.

Hishigaki was lurking in front of Shion’s closet. She was so quiet that it would be easy to forget she was there if she didn’t take up so much space. Shion looked at her, then back to Nyanko-sensei. “She seems to want to follow me around for now. She’s not bothering me or anything.”

This time Nyanko-sensei waved his paw aggressively at Shion. “You. Stop being so passive! You’re lucky Hishigaki is a gentle spirit. If it were someone else, you’d be in trouble!”

Shion had sat down in her chair, and Nyanko-sensei leaped into her lap. His claws poked her thighs as he glared up at her. “You are _so much_ like your father,” he hissed. He settled into a grumpy loaf, and Shion had to fight to keep from beaming.

Saying that she was like her father was never an insult. Nyanko-sensei didn’t really think it was.

He was still scowling at her. “So, what are you going to do with her?”

Ah. So he wasn’t letting it go after all.

Shion gave his head a scratch before turning her attention to Hishigaki, who was watching her with concern. “Do you live nearby?” Hishigaki shook her head. “Is there something you need? If I’m able to, I’ll find it for you.”

Hishigaki shook her head again and poked her fingers together. “I don’t need anything,” she said in a quiet voice. Her voice trailed off at the end. Shion waited patiently for her to finish her thought. “But if I go, you can’t call me.”

“You want me to?” Shion asked. Nyanko-sensei scoffed, and Shion laid a hand on his head to silence him. He whipped his head to the side and bit the heel of her hand. Not hard enough to break skin, but certainly hard enough to bruise.

Shion yipped in surprise, and Saisei swooped over to scold Nyanko-sensei and make sure that Shion was okay.

Shion understood that Nyanko-sensei was protective of her, especially since he had lost her father, but she did not appreciate being bitten. She dumped him to the floor and approached Hishigaki, ignoring Nyanko-sensei’s hiss. She had to look up since Hishigaki was so much taller than her. “What is it that you want?”

“Do you have the Book of Friends?” Hishigaki asked after a moment’s hesitation.

Shion tensed. But she answered honestly. “Yes,” she replied, braced for an attack.

“Could you put my name back in?”

“What?” No one had ever asked that before. Some, like Misuzu and Hinoe, had been fine with Shion keeping their names. But to put one back after it had been returned? “I- I suppose, if that would make you happy,” she said, glancing uncertainly at Nyanko-sensei, who said nothing.

“If you call me, I would be happy,” Hishigaki said.

“Um, sure. I can do that. To play?” Shion dug through her drawers for paper the right size to match the Book of Friends, and an ink brush since that’s what spirits seemed to be most comfortable using. She offered both to Hishigaki.

“Any reason is fine. But please call me.” Hishigaki wrote her name in the strange letters of the spirit language. Shion had never been taught it, but she had always understood it. Her father had been the same.

Hishigaki watched while Shion pulled the Book of Friends from its hiding place under the bed and bound the paper with Hishigaki’s name inside. “Okay,” Shion said. “Now when I have time, I’ll call you. Okay?”

Hishigaki smiled. “Yes.”

Shion showed her out, reassuring her again that she would call, then closed the door with a sigh.

“Has your friend left?” Fai asked. All he would have seen was Shion walking through the house talking to herself.

“Yep. She’ll be back to play every now and then, though.”

“That’s great.” And Fai sounded like he meant it.

Shion surprised him by walking over and wrapping her arms around his middle. “Hm?” His hands landed on her shoulders. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I’m just glad you found me,” she said.

“Me too.” Even without looking up, she could tell he was smiling from the tone of his voice, so she smiled too as she pulled away.

“Can I use the kitchen?”

“Of course. I’m almost done with dinner. What are you going to make?”

“I want to bake cookies for my friends. Since they helped me out today,” Shion explained as she went into the kitchen and dug the containers of flour and sugar from the cupboard. “I want to thank them.”

“Want help?”

“No, thanks. I want to do it myself.” She dug out the vanilla and the chocolate chips. Before she could get much farther, both Saisei and Nyanko-sensei appeared.

“Are you making food?” Saisei asked.

Nyanko-sensei’s paw beat a rhythm against her calf. “You better be sharing!” 

Shion looked at Fai. “Actually, if you could help me corral these two...”

He laughed, his face bright. “Of course. Saisei-san, Nyanko-sensei, come on now. I’ll read another chapter of that book, okay?”

Alone, Shion went back to baking. Her friends sometimes brought treats to share, especially Chiharu, but this would be the first time Shion did. She hoped her friends would like it.

Would Akiho like it?


	12. Chapter 12

Fai was cleaning up after breakfast the next morning when Saisei came streaming down the stairs carrying a bag. It was a cloth bag that Shion had sewn herself out of blue fabric with a pattern of butterflies in pink and greens. Saisei came to a skidding stop on the counter, looking frantic. Fai dried his hands on a small towel as he approached. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Shion forgot her swimsuit!” Saisei said. They gestured to the bag, which was bigger than they were. “It’s a swim day. She’ll get in trouble with the teacher!”

Fai patted their head gently. “I see.” It had been about fifteen minutes since Shion left, so he was unlikely to catch up to her on the way to school. Would it be weird to bring it to her there? Fai didn’t care much about looking unusual, but he knew that Shion was sensitive to anything that made her stand out or look strange. But then again, not having her swimsuit would certainly earn her unwanted attention. “I’ll bring it to school for her, then.”

Saisei looked relieved. The poor thing was almost vibrating with stress. Despite the fact that Shion had been in Fai’s care for a couple years now, Saisei still viewed it as their responsibility to make sure that she was well taken care of. That included making sure that she had everything she needed for school.

It was odd, though. “Normally Shion’s quite responsible,” Fai remarked, taking the bag from Saisei.

“I know! She never forgets things, so I didn’t realize until I went back upstairs and the bag was on her desk,” Saisei fretted. “But she was nervous about the cookies, so it must have slipped her mind.”

Ah, that was true. Shion had made three kinds of cookies for her friends - chocolate chip, sugar cookies, and spice cookies. Even then, she had worried that none of her friends would like them, despite Fai and Saisei’s assurances that they were delicious. Nyanko-sensei hadn’t encouraged her, but he had eaten six cookies from each batch before flopping over on the couch for a nap. Fai thought that spoke for itself.

Then again, there was the little blonde girl that Saisei said that Shion had tender feelings for. She might be the root cause of Shion’s anxiety.

“Thank you, Fai-san,” Saisei said, following Fai to the front door and hovering while he put on his shoes.

“No problem. It’s my job to look after her.”

With a final wave, Fai started the walk to Shion’s school.

* * *

Momo materialized behind Kaito. He could almost feel the buzz of her irritation. 

“This didn’t go well last time,” she reminded him.

He was perched in his favourite tree outside Tomoeda Middle School. Through the window, he could see Akiho, Sakura, and the rest of their class greeting each other and settling in for the school day. Akiho had told him over the dinner the night before that today was a day they had swim class. She loved to swim, so she was excited . She still had not gotten over the novelty of getting to swim at school. And she did seem happy, going by what Kaito could see through the window.

If he leaned to the side, he could also catch a glimpse into Class 3, though the sliver of what he could see did not include the next successor of the Li clan. Oh well. The three of them would be together when they went down to the pool.

He could, however, see Natsume-san. She stood at her desk, rifling frantically through her bag. The other girl, the one with bobbed hair—what was her name? He supposed it didn’t matter—approached, doubtlessly to ask what was wrong. It was a shame that he couldn’t hear their conversation, but the next successor of the Li clan would certianly sense it if he were to use that magic so close. Kaito didn’t want to be detected yet.

To Momo he said, “That doesn’t mean it won’t go well this time.” He reached for his pocket watch, which fit snug and familiar in the palm of his hand. The soothing tick halted as it transformed into his magic staff.

Momo sighed behind him. Kaito was trying to decide if he wanted to make some trouble now or wait long enough for the students to get down to the pool area when he was surprised out of his thoughts.

“Hello there.”

He and Momo both jumped. Momo vanished. There was a man on the ground behind Kaito, looking up at him with an absent smile. Kaito had never seen him before. The man had pale blond hair that shone in the summer sun, and even brighter blue eyes. That, combined with how tall and thin he was, marked him out as a foreigner.

His looks, along with the fact that he could see Kaito through the spells he’d set to hide his presence, told Kaito who it was.

This was the foreign magician.

He had snuck up on Kaito.

No one _ever_ caught Kaito by surprise.

Their eyes met, dark purple and bright blue. Kaito could _feel_ the power that rolled in the core of the other magician, but only for an instant. It was gone now. How peculiar.

As if he knew he had flustered Kaito, the other magician’s smile widened.

“Yuna D. Kaito-san, I presume?” he asked.

He didn’t get further. Kaito raised his staff and cast an attack spell. The chain attached to his staff lengthened and thickened. The pointed weight at the end turned sharp and deadly, made straight for the other magician with blinding speed - and missed.

The weight dug into the grass behind the other magician, who raised his eyebrows at Kaito. He was no longer smiling. “That was rather rude, don’t you think?” he asked, examining his clothes for damage as Kaito wondered what had happened. He had felt a burst of magic, but much smaller than he had expected from someone who could break through his wards. Had this magician only used enough magic to deflect the chain?

Kaito became aware that his heart was beating rapidly, an unusual occurance. He drew in a deep breath and relaxed his shoulders to settle himself. Then he pasted a smile on his face. “Pardon me. And who are you?” he asked. Despite the farce of friendliness, he made sure his staff was ready to attack or defend.

“Fai Koivunen,” Fai replied.

That _was_ a Finnish name, so Kaito couldn’t be mistaken. This was a magician from Finland, who likely had accompanied Natsume Shion to Japan.

“And why are you here?” Kaito asked. He still had his staff in his hand. He had no doubt that he was stronger than Fai. Fai had blocked his attack, but that was nowhere near the best he could do.

The fact that Fai could conceal his magic so well that even now Kaito almost could not sense it was concerning, but everyone had a talent or two.

Fai held up a bag made of butterfly-patterned fabric. “Shion-chan forgot her swimsuit,” he said. He lowered the bag and stepped forward. Kaito braced himself, but Fai walked under him and toward the school. Fai glanced back once with his hand on the door handle, but did not say another word before entering the school.

Kaito was left balancing on the tree branch and blinking in confusion. Was that all? He couldn’t really call it an altercation. He was the only one who had attacked, not that it landed.

He recalled the chain, which settled back around the staff where it belonged.

Momo drifted down from the leaves she’d hidden in when Fai had made his presence known. She watched with interest as Kaito’s magic staff shrank back down into a pocket watch. “Changed your mind?” she asked. There was a little frown on her face and her eyebrows scrunched together. 

Concern, perhaps? He couldn’t quite read her tone. But he smiled at her regardless.

“I’m here to make trouble for Sakura-san, it’s true,” he said. “But it will become a bigger thing than I want if I do it while that magician is here.”

“So you’re leaving?” Her little arms were crossed over her chest. If he wasn’t mistaken, she seemed smug. Well, she could have that.

“For now. Not to worry, I haven’t been scared off.” He transported himself back to the house with magic, leaving Momo alone in the schoolyard.

“Haven’t you, though?” she wondered aloud before she, too, disappeared in a swirl of magic, though her destination was Akiho’s bag.

* * *

Fai waited by the office while a staff member went to summon Shion. Moments later she came rushing up, her face red with embarrassment. “Fai-san, thank you so much!” she said as he held out the bag.

Before she took it, she dropped into a deep bow. Fai let out a puff of air—she hadn’t bowed to him like this in ages, and he had been starting to think she was finally comfortable enough to stop. Other than the small bows that were customary manners among the Japanese, of course.

Shion straightened and took the bag. She clutched it to her chest and breathed deeply. “I’m so sorry for forgetting it. You brought it for me. Thank you.”

The poor girl was near tears. Fai laid a gentle hand on her head to make the apologetic babbling stop. “It’s okay, Shion-chan. I’m glad I could help you,” he said, smiling at her. “It wasn’t a bother at all, okay?”

“Sorry.” She sniffled and wiped her eyes. “I’ve calmed down.”

“Okay. Have a good day, okay?”

“Yeah.” She managed a wobbly smile. She would be all right, he thought. “Thank you again.”

She returned to class, and Fai took a look around the schoolyard, taking special care to peer up into the branches of trees. It seemed that Kaito had left, which was good. Sakura’s training was going well, but she wasn’t capable of facing Kaito yet.

He wished he knew what Kaito wanted from Sakura. But there was time to figure it out.

Meanwhile, he had left Nyanko-sensei and Saisei unsupervised at home and needed to get back.

* * *

“Is everything okay?”

Shion turned. Li was leaning forward over his desk to talk to her as they all got ready to go down to the pool. When his thick brows drew together like this, he always looked so endearingly serious. “Yeah, everything’s fine,” she told him. “I forgot my swimsuit, so Fai-san brought it for me.”

Li’s face relaxed. “Good. I’m glad he’s okay.”

It wasn’t always a good thing to be called out of class, so Shion understood his concern. She smiled at him again, but they were soon separated as their class walked down to the pool. She and Naoko rejoined the others once they’d gotten changed.

All the first years took swim class together, so Sakura, Akiho, Chiharu, and Tomoyo soon surrounded them to chat. Chiharu and Yamazaki were bickering about something again.

“Do you like swimming, Shion-chan?” Sakura asked, sidling over to Shion.

“Yes. Do you?” 

“Yeah!” Sakura said with much more enthusiasm than Shion had. Shion laughed a little. “I really, really like it!”

“Me too,” Akiho agreed.

“The three of you are athletic, after all,” Tomoyo said, smiling.

At the teachers’ instructions, Shion slipped into the water to demonstrate how she could swim laps. They would take turns, so the rest of her friend group waited on the side. Yamazaki was also in the first batch of swimmers, though he was two lanes over from her.

Shion fitted her goggles over her eyes and pushed off the wall. It was a bit choppy at first, as it had been a while since Shion had last gone swimming. But she found her rhythm and soon she was swimming much smoother.

Until something wrapped around her ankle.

Shion didn’t get a chance to cry out before she was yanked under. The water closed around her head as she was dragged down, and the light grew further and further away as she tried to fight free.


	13. Chapter 13

At the side of the pool, chaos broke out. One moment everything was fine. The next, Shion was sinking rapidly. It was like an unseen force dragged her down as her friends watched in horror.

“What’s happening?” Chiharu asked, grabbing Naoko’s arm.

“I think she’s drowning!” Naoko replied.

Shion had not surfaced. Instead, she sank deeper and deeper at a shocking rate. The other swimmers hadn’t realized something was wrong yet. The teacher’s whistle blew a sharp blast, which got their attention. One by one their heads straightened up, but Shion was still underwater.

Syaoran fought his way through the crowd to Sakura’s side. His arm came up to shield her without conscious thought, though he couldn’t see or sense anything. “Do you sense anything?” he demanded.

She shook her head, meeting his worried amber eyes. “Nothing! Is this my fault?” She gripped the key so hard that its ridges dug into the palm of her hand. She wondered if she should transform her staff. But all of her classmates would see, and there was nowhere to take cover, even with all attention on the pool.

Once the staff was transformed, she could use Lucid to make herself invisible, but the pool was one big open area. And would being invisible even work once she was underwater?

Snooze could put everyone to sleep, but that would be dangerous for the students still in the pool.

If she didn’t do something soon, Shion would drown.

Akiho darted around Sakura and Syaroan and past Chiharu. Her bare feet slapped the tiles as she sprinted for the pool. The teacher tried to call her back, but Akiho was already leaping into the water while the confused swimmers looked for the source of the commotion. Some of them had made it to the side of the pool and were climbing out.

“Akiho-chan, wait!” Sakura called out, ignoring Syaoran’s calls as she ran to the side of the pool. Akiho was a strong swimmer and was already too far away to pull back. Syaoran caught Sakura’s arm before she could follow her friend into danger.

“Don’t,” he said when Sakura turned to him. “I’ll get her, okay? I’ll get her.” She nodded, and he released her to plunge into the water.

It was agony to stand on the side of the pool and watch Syaoran swim toward Akiho, who took a big breath and dove beneath the water after Shion. Tomoyo came to stand beside Sakura and put her hands on Sakura’s shoulders to support and comfort as they watched in solemn silence.

Akiho reached Shion and grabbed her hand, pulling Shion against her chest. With both arms wrapped around Shion, she swam for the surface. Syaoran met her halfway and helped pull Shion up. Once they broke the surface, gasping, they pulled Shion to the side of the pool. Sakura and Tomoyo ran over as Akiho, Syaoran, and one of the teachers fished Shion, limp and unmoving, out of the water. Sakura gripped Tomoyo's hand hard. Shion was so pale in Syaoran's arms.

Akiho was pulling wet hair out of Shion's face when Sakura knelt beside her. "Is she breathing?" Sakura demanded, grabbing Akiho's hand with her free one.

"I don't-" Akiho began, but just then Shion gave a small cough and opened her eyes. Everyone let out a collective sigh of relief, and Akiho burst into tears, swiping at her eyes with her fists.

* * *

It wouldn’t let go.

The spirit had grabbed Shion’s leg with one long-fingered hand. Its fingers looked thin and brittle, but were strong. Its grip bruised. And still it pulled her deeper.

She didn’t recognize the spirit, but it clearly wanted something from her.

Shion held her breath and kicked out with her other foot. The water slowed her movements, and the spirits arms were so long that she couldn’t hit its body.

She couldn’t _breathe_.

Her lungs were going to explode. She had to get free. She didn’t want to die here. Not in front of all of her classmates.

“Such strong power for a human child.” The spirit spoke clearly despite being underwater.

_‘Let me go,’_ Shion thought with all her strength, but it gave no sign that it heard. 

_“If I eat this human child, I will gain its power.”_ A sharp-toothed gin was the only thing visible beneath the spirit's mass of dark hair. 

A spike of fear lodged in Shion’s heart. So it wasn’t just drowning her for the sake of it, but to eat her once she was dead. 

She didn’t want that! 

Panicked flailing did no good, but she couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. Pressure built in her chest, and she thought that was her suffocating. Spirit magic burst out of her, sizzling on contact with the spirit’s hand. It screamed as it was knocked away from Shion. 

The last of her strength drained away as the magic dissipated. Spots filled her vision. 

She had repelled the spirit, but she was going to die anyway. 

Fingers closed around her hand. Dimly, she thought that the spirit must be back to finish her off. 

The next thing Shion was aware of was garbled voices above her. She forced her heavy eyelids open and stared at the fuzzy lights and blurred faces above her. 

She choked. 

There was a flurry of motion and she was rolled onto her side to cough up water. Her throat and nose burned, but the discomfort meant that she was alive. 

The world slowly came into focus once she was able to breathe again. Someone was sent for the nurse. Shion almost closed her eyes in mortification, but she caught sight of Akiho’s face above hers. At the same instant, she became aware that someone was squeezing her hand and that Akiho’s hair was dripping water onto her face. 

Shion squeezed the hand, and Akiho tried to smile through her visible distress. 

It took a second for Shion’s sluggish brain to put it together. 

Oh. 

That was Akiho’s hand. 

Sakura was squeezed into the space between Akiho and the other classmates who were gathered around Shion. The rest of their friends were clustering around Sakura, but Shion didn’t see Syaoran. 

“Can you sit up?” The was Syaoran’s voice. Shion twisted her head and realized that he was the one holding her. 

She coughed to clear her burning throat. “I think so?” The words rasped out, and she had to cough again. It hurt. But she was alive. 

He supported her shoulders as she pushed up, and Akiho anxiously moved in to help. “We’ve called her guardian,” she heard one of the teachers saying nearby as Chiharu appeared with a towel to wrap around Shion's shoulders and Naoko draped another across her lap. “He’s coming to pick her up.” 

“I’m all right, I’m all right,” she said to her friends’ anxious faces, unaware that she was shaking. Her ankle hurt where the spirit had gripped it and her head spun, but she had to manage somehow. 

The students made space for the gym teachers to come check on Shion. “Hey. Are you breathing okay?” she asked, checking the circulation in Shion’s fingers and smiling when Shion drew in a deep breath to show her. “Great. Your guardian is coming to get you, so hang tight. We’ll take care of you.” 

Shion wasn’t allowed to stand up and Syaoran refused to leave her. After a whispered conversation, Akiho and Sakura disappeared for a few minutes and returned with Shion’s bags and her uniform. “We thought you wouldn’t want to walk through the school in your swimsuit,” Sakura explained as she handed Shion her blouse to button over her swimsuit. 

“Thank you,” Shion said, and meant it. At least she would be spared that. 

She wiggled into the rest of her uniform and accepted her school bag and gym bag from Sakura. She dug into her school bag and passed the tin of cookies to Akiho. “I made these for everyone. Share them at lunch, okay?” she said. 

Akiho clutched the tin. She had time to nod before the teacher was back. “Your guardian is here to pick you up. Come on,” she said, helping Shion to her feet. She felt steady enough, but she limped on her sore ankle as the teacher supported her to the door. 

“Thank you!” Shion called over her shoulder. 

* * *

Swim class was cancelled after the incident. The teachers had to investigate the pool because it was clear that Shion had gotten caught on something somehow and was pulled under. It was disappointing, but everyone was shaken enough to accept it. 

It was obvious that Sakura was worried about Akiho, who hadn't stopped crying since pulling Shion out of the pool. Tomoyo looked back at Sakura and nodded, then turned to trot after Akiho and wrap an arm around her shoulders. Akiho leaned into the touch. At least that was one friend looked after, but Sakura was always Syaoran's greatest concern. 

“This wasn’t your fault,” Syaoran said, catching Sakura’s wrist as their friends left the pool area. 

Her face was tense, her eyes downcast. He knew that she was deeply bothered by what had happened. “It might have been,” she said, clenching one hand over her chest. “We don’t know enough about what my magic is doing. It could have been me.” 

“But you don’t sense anything, right?” Syaoran asked. She shook her head, confirming his suspicions. It wasn’t a Clear Card that had done that to Shion. 

Syaoran hadn’t sensed anything either. But Yuna D. Kaito was powerful. He could have done it without leaving a trace. 

But why target Shion? Kaito had only gone after Sakura up until now. 

“I didn’t sense a card or anything,” Sakura said. “But there were bruises on Shion-chan’s ankle.” 

He had noticed them too, when Shion had limped away with the teacher. A dark pattern of bruises circled Shion’s ankle, like several loops. Her leg hadn’t been caught on anything when Shinomoto pulled her to the surface or when the two of them hauled her out of the water. 

“Something similar happened with Watery in the past,” Sakura said. “Do you remember?” 

“Yeah.” 

“It wasn’t a card...” Sakura said thoughtfully. “But just for an instant, I felt a strong power under the water.” 

“Eh?” He hadn’t sensed anything. 

That was unusual. He didn’t know what to think. He could sense Yuna D. Kaito’s magic, and Sakura could not. But Sakura could sense her own magic in the Clear Cards, and he couldn’t. Did her sensing what was under the water mean that it was a Clear Card after all? 

His hands clenched. He hated to see the pain and uncertainty in her face. He hated that she now had to doubt herself because her power was too strong for her to control. 

No... she’d said it wasn’t a card. He believed her. She hadn’t just gotten stronger. She was more experienced now than when they’d been in elementary school collecting Clow Cards. 

He drew her to the side to let the rest of their classmates stream past them. “If it wasn’t a card, could you tell what it was?” he asked. “Don’t think too hard. Did it feel similar to anything you’ve felt before?” 

She still looked doubtful and uncertain, but she spoke slowly. “Remember when we went to visit my great-grandfather?” 

She stopped, and he nodded to encourage her to continue. “Yes.” 

“I used Record there. And I saw- or, I thought I saw- my mother...” she stopped and took a deep breath. He knew she wasn’t sure if what she’d seen was actually her mother or something shown to her by Record’s magic. “The magic I felt under the water felt like... that...” 

He didn’t understand. “The thing that attacked Shion felt like your mother?” 

Sakura shook her head adamantly. “No, no,” she said, and stopped again to think before she spoke. “I don’t think I was sensing the thing that attacked Shion.” She looked at the surface of the pool, the ripples shining under the artificial light. “I think what I felt _came_ from Shion.” 

The pool deck was almost empty now. “Come on you two!” the gym teacher called. “Time to get changed." 

“Coming!” they chorused. 

Before they parted, Syaoran squeezed her hand. “Be careful, all right?” He still didn't understand what she meant, but he wanted her to be safe. 

She managed a small smile for him. “I will. And I’m going to call Fai-san later. To see what he thinks about what happened... and to make sure Shion-chan is okay.” 

Syaoran nodded. It was a good idea. “Fill me in after you talk to him?” 

“I will." 


	14. Chapter 14

There was nothing more terrifying than being told there was an incident at school and you needed to pick up your child.

The stomach-dropping fear was made worse by the fact that he had _just_ been there. Could he have prevented this somehow if he’d lingered?

The teacher on the phone had said that Shion didn’t seem to be hurt, but school protocol was to contact parents or guardians so that the child could be given medical care if and when it was made necessary.

His hands shook as he put away his cellphone and ran for his shoes.

Shion had almost drowned.

Saisei was very sensitive to moods, and had rocketed over the instant Fai’s tone changed. They clung to his shoulder throughout that agonizing phone call, and refused to be shooed back into the house as Fai opened the front door. “I’m coming!” Saisei said. “No one will be able to see me anyway.”

He could have argued, but Saisei’s small hands were clenched tightly in his shirt and their body trembled. They were distraught and trying not to show it.

Nyanko-sensei brushed against Fai’s calves as he pushed out the door. “Well? Let’s go, human,” he said, looking back at Fai.

It was pointless to force them back inside. He needed to get to the school.

Shion needed him.

* * *

She was sitting in a stiff office chair when he ran in. He hugged her, hard, probably scandalizing the secretary. He’d heard that the Japanese weren’t big on hugs. Her hair was wet, the water soaking into his shirt when she hugged him back.

She breathed in sharply, like she might cry, but there were no tears on her cheeks when she pulled away.

Although Shion said she was fine, Fai insisted on taking her to the doctor to be checked over. “I’m not a healer,” he said when she argued. “If you end up with secondary drowning, I won’t be able to do anything. I won’t risk it.”

He was holding her hand too tight, he knew, but other than a small wince she didn’t complain. Saisei had switched from Fai’s shoulder to Shion’s and kept running their fingers through her wet hair as though to convince themself that she was here and whole.

Nyanko-sensei was loathe to express any kind of worry, but he walked so close to Shion’s feet that she kept tripping over him.

Shion told the story of what happened at the pool on the walk to the doctor, where thankfully she was given a clean bill of health. The vise of fear and guilt clamped around Fai’s heart loosened at the news, but not all the way.

He couldn’t protect her from spirits. He couldn’t heal her injuries.

What use was he to her?

When they got home, Shion went upstairs to change and take a bath. Irrationally, Fai didn’t want to let her out of his sight. She’d said that she had repelled the spirit, but Fai knew that without sealing it or killing it (which Shion hated to do), it would come back.

But Nyanko-sensei and Saisei followed her up the stairs, so he wasn’t leaving her unprotected. Both of them were more useful than he was when it came to spirits.

He busied himself with making lunch until Shion and the others came back down. When they did, it was in mid-argument.

“I’m serious! You can’t come,” Shion was saying.

“Oh?” Nyanko-sensei said in a cold voice. “And how do you plan to stop me?”

Shion didn’t seem to have a response for that, so she scowled as she came into the kitchen and dropped into a chair.

“What’s wrong?” Fai asked, looking between them. Their faces bore equally stubborn expressions. This wasn’t the first time they’d butted heads, and he was sure it wouldn’t be the last.

“Nyanko-sensei wants to follow me to school,” Shion said, glaring down at him. “I can’t bring a cat to school. It’s against the rules.”

“Fool! I wouldn’t need to come inside to sense when the spirit comes back,” Nyanko-sensei retorted, smacking her leg with his claws out and making her yelp. “I go where I want. You are not my master.”

“I could come too,” Saisei piped up. They were gently drying Shion’s hair with their wind magic, causing the strands to blow softly around her face. 

Shion ignored Saisei for the moment to frown at Nyanko-sensei. “I know I’m not your master.” She sounded hurt. “But I don’t need you to protect me, either.”

Nyanko-sensei’s fur fluffed up in outrage. “You-” he began, incensed, but Fai decided to interrupt by placing an onigiri in front of him. Nyanko-sensei broke off, distracted by the food.

“We all just want you to be safe, Shion-chan,” he said, straightening to ruffle her still damp hair. “That’s why they want to go with you.”

Shion’s hands clenched in the jeans she had changed into. “I know. But I’m strong. I don’t need you guys to trouble yourselves over me.”

Nyanko-sensei had inhaled the onigiri in record time and looked like he was going to start arguing again, so Fai smooshed his head down. “It’s no trouble. We worry because we care,” he said. He let go when Nyanko-sensei bit him, moving his hand out of range. “I like the idea of Nyanko-sensei going with you as a backup,” he continued, dodging Nyanko-sensei’s claws. “But it’s not a good idea for Saiesei to go.”

It was Saisei’s turn to be upset. “Why not?” they asked.

Saisei had a softer nature than both Shion and Nyanko-sensei. Fai wasn’t sure if it was because they were an angel or if they would have been soft either way. It meant that Fai had to be very gentle. “You might be sensed,” he explained. He touched their cheek with a gentle hand, brushing the long strands out of their face. “If there’s any trouble, I’m sure Shion-chan and Nyanko-sensei will be able to handle it together.”

It was obvious that Saisei wasn’t happy, but they didn’t argue.

If only Nyanko-sensei had left it there. 

“You can’t do much anyway. You’re too small,” he said.

Insulted, Saisei shook their small fists at him. “It can’t be helped! I can’t change back right now,” they protested.

Shion picked Saisei up and held them against their chest in a hug. “I know. It’s okay,” she said. “You help me in other ways.”

“Promise?” Saisei said, looking up at her with a pout.

“Yes.”

Saisei sighed and laid their head against Shion’s heart. “All right,” they said. “It’s too bad about the cookies, though. You worked so hard.”

Shion patted their back. “It’s okay. I gave the cookies to my friends,” she assured them, and Saisei perked up.

“Really? That’s great!” They clasped their hands and smiled. “Especially since Akiho-san saved you.”

Shion’s face went red. “Yeah,” she agreed. “It’s a bit embarrassing to be saved, though.”

“Well, maybe you should save her next time, then,” Saisei replied, pulling free of Shion’s arms to get back to drying her hair.

Shion smiled shyly and tapped her fingers against her legs. “Maybe I will, someday.”

Well, it seemed like they’d sorted it out. Fai was still uneasy, but he had to finish making lunch. He hadn’t been back at the counter for five minutes when Shion appeared beside him with a thoughtful frown.

“What is it?” he asked when a moment passed without her speaking. Saisei and Nyanko-sensei could be heard quarrelling in the background.

“Fai-san?” she began, hesitant.

At her tone, he stopped chopping vegetables and turned toward her fully. It was the tone she used when she had a question, but didn’t think she had the right to ask him. “Yes?” he prompted when she lapsed into silence again.

“You said that Saisei-san might be sensed by somebody at school,” Shion said, biting her lower lip. “Does that mean someone at school has magic? Besides me?”

Oh.

Of course she’d picked up on that.

And she knew how strong his power was. She knew that if someone at her school had magic, Fai would know who.

“I can’t answer that. I’m sorry, Shion-chan,” he said.

She nodded like she wasn’t surprised. “Can I help you with anything?”

“No, that’s okay.”

He watched her go back to the table to separate the other two and rescue Saisei, who was being squished into the table top by Nyanko-sensei. He wished he could fill her in, but it wasn’t her business. He had to maintain Sakura’s confidentiality after all.

* * *

Fai wanted her to stay home from school the next day, but she really felt fine. Besides, she had to thank her friends.

She didn’t remember the rescue clearly, but she knew that Akiho had swum down to get her and that Li had helped pulled her out of the pool. She needed to thank them.... and make up for scaring all of her friends.

So Fai sighed and helped her with the fruit tarts, for which Shion was very grateful.

True to his word, Nyanko-sensei followed her out the front door. Shion glanced quickly around to make sure there was no one else on the sidewalk, then crouched down to whisper, “You don’t have to come with me, you know.”

He gave her an unimpressed look. “I thought we settled this last night,” he said sourly. “That spirit is still at large. I need to teach it a lesson for messing with _my_ things!”

With that, he bounded down the sidewalk, forcing her to follow him.

They attracted some looks, the middle school girl and the fat calico cat, but Shion was used to that. When they neared the school, he stopped her by snagging his claws on her sock. She crouched down again, because here there were students chatting as they streamed through the gates of the school.

“What?” she asked.

“If that spirit comes, send up a flare. I’ll come to you,” he said.

“I know. I will,” she said with a sigh. She wasn’t actually upset with him, so she scratched him between the ears.

“Shion-chan!”

The call jolted her upright and Nyanko-sensei darted away. She turned to see Sakura and Tomoyo running up to her.

“I didn’t think you’d be at school today!” Sakura said, startling Shion by clasping her arms in a friendly way.

“Are you well enough to be here?” Tomoyo asked, sounding concerned.

Shion was both pleased and embarrassed by the attention. “Yes. I went to the doctor, and they said I’m fine,” she assured them. “Fai-san wanted me to stay home, but I don’t like missing school. And I know everyone must have been worried, so...”

“Oh, yes,” Sakura said. “I was really, really worried. I’m so glad you’re all right.”

The other girls flanked her as they walked toward the school. Shion’s chest warmed with pleasure at the attention and the reminder that she mattered to these people. “Thank you,” she said.

“By the way, Shion-chan,” Tomoyo began. He thick dark hair had been twisted into a braided chignon at the nape of her neck, with two long strands free to frame her face. She always looked so pretty and dainty.

“Yes?”

“Was that cat earlier yours?”

“Ah, yes. Sometimes he likes to walk with me to school,” Shion said, sheepish, and hoped that they wouldn’t ask more.

“That’s so cute!” Sakura said. “He must like you a lot.”

Shion thought of the familiar smack of Nyanko-sensei’s paw against her leg to get her attention and the way he wasn’t shy about using his claws. But he’d never hurt her, he’d never left her, even after all this time. She had thought for sure that he would refuse to come to Finland with her, but he hadn’t even voiced a protest when she told him she was going with Fai. He’d just climbed into her bag and glared at her as though _daring_ her to try and leave him behind.

“Yeah, he does,” she said.

Both girls smiled at her. “That’s so nice,” Sakura said. “Me and Tomoyo-chan don’t have any pets.”

Nyanko-sensei would hate being described as a pet, but Shion couldn’t correct the assumption, so she just laughed a little awkwardly.

“Shion-san!”

The group turned to see Akiho running up to them, a big smile on her face.

“We’ll go on ahead,” Tomoyo said, looping her arm around Sakura’s with a strange smile and tugging her toward the school.

“Eh?” Shion said, looking at them in surprise, unaware that her cheeks were bright red.

“See you at lunch!” Sakura called as Tomoyo led her away.

Akiho caught up to her and like Sakura, clasped Shion’s arms. Unlike Sakura, the touch made Shion’s face even redder and her head feel light and floasty. “Are you all right?” Akiho asked.

Shion almost didn’t register the question through her own heart pounding. “Yeah, I’m fine,” she said. From the way Akiho frowned, she must not have been convincing. “Um, I wanted to thank you for saving me yesterday,” Shion said.

Akiho’s hands tightened on her arms. “Oh, no, I didn’t do anything really,” she protested. “If Li-san hadn’t stepped up to help...”

“I remember you grabbing my hand, though,” Shion said. “I don’t remember much after that, but you’re the one who pulled me to the surface, right?”

“Well, yes,” Akiho said, still flustered. “I did do that, but...”

“Thank you very much.”

Akiho’s face was red, too. After a moment, she stammered, “You’re welcome.”

Shion pulled her arm away until they were holding hands. “We’d better go or we’ll be late,” she said, trying to be casual, like her heart wasn’t slamming against her ribcage.

“Y-yeah, okay,” Akiho agreed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Announcement: I will be taking a break from updating my fics starting in October. Updates will resume in January.


	15. Chapter 15

It was kind of embarrassing to have a big deal made of her when she went into the classroom. Even classmates she hadn’t spoken to before came up to ask her if she was okay. But she knew it would blow over quickly once they were assured that she was all right, and it was nice to have them be concerned for her.

Most of her classmates moved on soon, but Li was harder to convince. Even after the lesson started, she could feel his eyes on her back. The worry buzzing around him as he hovered close to her all morning. At one point she dropped her pencil, and he bent down to pick it up before she could. “Thanks,” she whispered, and he nodded. His face was so serious that she felt guilty.

On the way down to the schoolyard for lunch, he walked so close to her side that their arms brushed. “I’m all right,” she told him.

He glanced at her, nodded, and looked straight ahead. “I know,” he said quietly, “but you scared me.”

“It’s probably best if you take it easy for a couple days,” Yamazaki said. He and Chiharu were walking behind Li and Shion, with the rest of the girls bringing up the rear. “You don’t want to overdo it.”

“He’s right. Just let us know if you need help with anything, and we’ll be happy to do it for you,” Chiharu chimed in with a smile.

Shion smiled back. “Thank you. I will.”

Outside it was a bright, clear day. The grass in the schoolyard must have been trimmed recently, because the air was full of the fresh scent of cut grass. The warmth of the sun settled across Shion’s shoulders with physical weight as she laid out her blanket with the others.

“It’s sure getting hot,” Naoko remarked.

“Yeah. It gets me excited for summer vacation!” Sakura said, which was met with hearty agreement from the others.

Shion wasn’t so sure that she was looking forward to a break from school. Not seeing her friends for months would make her sad, though she supposed that she would have fun hanging out with Fai, Nyanko-sensei, and Saisei like she did in previous years. But she’d never had such good school friends before.

“I made fruit tarts for everyone,” she said, reaching into her bag to pull out the container. She pulled off the lid and set the container on top of it in the middle of the circle so that everyone could take one.

“Oh my! Cookies yesterday and tarts today? Shion-chan is spoiling us,” Tomoyo said with a chuckle as Sakura handed her a fruit tart.

Shion blushed, but Sakura beamed. “I don’t mind, since Shion-chan’s cooking is really delicious!” Sakura declared, taking a big bite of her tart. She made an excited squeal of pleasure. “See? It’s so good!”

“Yes, it’s delicious!” Akiho said. “Oh, but that reminds me.” She rifled around in her own bag and pulled out an empty container. “I need to return your container from yesterday. Kaito-san washed it, so it’s clean.”

She slipped her feet back into her shoes in order to cross the grass to Shion and hold out their container. When Shion took it, their fingers brushed. Both of them went red and nearly dropped the container, but Shion managed to catch it. “Th-thank you,” she stammered, turning quickly to put it in her bag to hide how flustered she was.

“O-of course,” Akiho stammered back and scuttled back to her spot. Her cheeks were still pink when she sat down, and she stared at her lap.

Sakura and Tomoyo exchanged glances and smiled. But Sakura decided to take pity on them and change the subject.

“What happened in the pool yesterday?” she asked Shion. “You were doing well before, so I can tell you’re a strong swimmer. Then you suddenly sank.”

Shion had been expecting the question, so she wasn’t caught off guard. She’d had all night to come up with a lie, after all.

“I suddenly got dizzy and felt faint,” she lied. “I must have overdone it.”

“Really? You’re usually so athletic,” Chiharu said worriedly.

Shion faked a smile. “Yeah. I’ll be more careful next time.”

The conversation turned to other things, but Li was still looking at her with that expression of concern. Shion flushed guiltily and avoided eye contact. She wasn’t sure that she could lie to him directly. Even though she was good at lying, she felt sure that her face would do something weird if she looked him in the eyes and lied.

Sakura was watching her too, but her expression was strange. If Shion wasn’t mistaken, the look in Sakura’s eyes was... guilt? But Sakura had nothing to feel guilty for.

A shadow fell across the group. Shion glanced up, expecting a teacher or maybe an older student. Her chopsticks dropped from her fingers when she realized that it was the spirit from the day before.

“Is everything all right?” Tomoyo asked.

Of course nobody else saw it. They could only see her staring at empty air.

“Do you need to go to the nurse? You don’t look well,” Sakura said.

So she was pale too.

Why couldn’t spirits show up only when she was alone?

She set her lunch aside and stood up, shoving her feet into her shoes without taking her eyes off the spirit. It hadn’t moved yet, its long, gangly arms framing Naoko almost perfectly. This probably wasn’t the type of close encounter that Naoko always talked about wanting.

“Yeah,” she told Sakura. Might as well let them believe she was going to the nurse. She grabbed her bag, which held the Book of Friends. “Sorry.”

Li and Akiho started to get up at the same time. “I’ll go with-” Li started to say, but she was already running.

“Shion-chan!” she heard one of the girls call, but she didn’t look back. There was a rush of wind that told her the spirit was following her, its long double-jointed legs eating up ground faster than she could hope to. But she just had to make it out of sight.

She darted through the bushes that bordered the school yard, jumped over an unoccupied bench, and nearly made it through the fence before thin fingers wrapped around her arm and yanked her back.

Her shoulder flared with pain, but she ignored it and whirled. “Let _go_ ,” she snapped, letting out a flare of magic to force its fingers off her. If Nyanko-sensei were nearby, he would sense it.

“You’re a Natsume,” the spirit hissed. Shion’s flare had been too small to knock it more than a step back, and it crowded into her space. Its head stretched forward on its neck, and Shion stumbled backward until her back hit the slim trunk of a tree. “You have the Book of Friends?”

“Yes,” Shion said. She kept a tight grip on her bag in case the spirit tried to take it from her. “Is your name in the Book? I can return it.” She knew how. Nyanko-sensei had taught her, reluctantly, when she found the method among her father’s notes years ago.

“Give me the Book!” the spirit grabbed her bag, and Shion’s hold on it lifted her right off the ground. “Is it in here?” The spirit swung the bag and slammed it into the ground, and Shion with it.

The wind was knocked out of her on impact and she saw stars. She clung to the bag strap tight enough that her knuckles ached. No matter what, she couldn't let go. The spirits whose names were still held in the Book were counting on her. 

The spirit’s other hand slammed down on her, so big that it covered her from shoulder to shoulder and pressed painfully into her ribs. It was _strong._ She couldn't draw a breath with it crushing her.

She focused her magic into her hand, preparing to punch it. Before she could, there was a crash as Nyanko-sensei crashed through the branches overhead in his true form.

The spirit jerked with surprise, easing the weight on her lungs. She gasped for air. Even with her eyes half-squeezed shut from pain, Nyanko-sensei was imposing in his massive wolf-like form. His fur was pure white, and the markings on his forehead were the rich red of fresh blood. His bared fangs were as long as Shion’s arm, but even they weren’t as frightening as his fury.

“You dare to touch what’s mine?” he roared, knocking the spirit off of Shion with one swipe of his paw. He did it with such force that Shion was sent tumbling across the grass.

The spirit scrambled on to all fours and fled with a high shriek, Nyanko-sensei in pursuit. By the time Shion sat up, both of them had disappeared from view.

Wincing, she got up and took stock. There was a scratch on her arm that needed tending too, and careful probing at the back of her head revealed a growing lump. She’d made a mess of it this time. Served her right for underestimating the spirit and thinking that she would have the advantage on solid ground.

If it came back, she would have to be more careful.

She did what she could to straighten her hair, but there was no disguising the fact that something had happened. Her shirt and socks were grass-stained, and there was dirt and leaf matter clinging to her skirt even after she brushed at it with her hands.

Her shoulder burned and stung from being wrenched, and she felt bruised from her collarbones down to her stomach.

Despite what she’d told her friends, she didn’t actually want to make another visit to the nurse. If she was there too often, people were going to start wondering about her. It would make sense if she were visiting for something related to her near-drowning yesterday, but she looked like she’d just lost a match of American football.

She limped over to the bench she jumped over earlier and opened her bag. The Book of Friends was safe and sound, right next to her first aid kit, which she pulled out. She cleaned and bandaged the scratch on her arm. Her knees were scraped up again, so she disinfected those too. She used a handful of baby wipes to get rid off all the dirt she could, but that was as good as it was going to get.

To make it seem like she really had gone to the nurse, she sat for a few minutes longer on the bench. She hated being deceitful, but it wasn’t like she could tell her friends that she had been attacked by an invisible monster. When she judged that enough time had passed, she walked back to her friends.

“I fell down on the way,” she said with a sheepish smile to the worry and dismay that greeted her.

“You look like you tumbled down a hill,” Naoko remarked, pulling a leaf Shion had somehow missed out of her hair.

Shion laughed nervously but didn’t contest it.

“I should have gone with you,” Li said. Ah, she’d worried him again. And now she would have to lie.

She was a terrible friend.

“It’s fine. I’m pretty clumsy,” she said, but she still couldn’t quite meet his eyes.

“Are you sure you’re all right?” Akiho asked.

Another person that Shion couldn’t lie directly too. Luckily, she was spared by the bell ringing to signal the end of lunch.

“I’m really fine,” she said to her bento box as she packed it up.

That seemed to be the end of it, and she and Naoko chatted about the play that Naoko was writing on the way back to the classroom.

* * *

Syaoran, Sakura, and Tomoyo walked home together. Sakura was uncharacteristically quiet, which didn’t escape Tomoyo and Syaoran’s notice. They glanced at each other from either side of Sakura, then Tomoyo gently asked, “Is something wrong, Sakura-chan?”

“Eh?” Sakura jolted like she’d been startled out of her train of thoughts. She started to smile, about to lie and say that everything was fine, then it dropped off her face and she sighed. “I’m worried about Shion-chan,” she admitted.

“The incident at the pool wasn’t your fault,” Syaoran said immediately. “Even Fai-san said so.” Fai hadn’t offered an explanation for what he thought _had_ happened, but Syaoran suspected that he knew. It raised his suspicions of Fai again, although Fai had been nothing but helpful and professional during Sakura’s lessons. And it was true that Sakura was making progress under his instruction. She hadn’t made a card in days.

Sakura didn’t look convinced. “I don’t know what else it could have been, though,” she said.

Syaoran hated how realizing that she was the one making the Clear Cards had caused her to lose faith in herself. He didn’t know how to comfort her other than to support her no matter what happened.

“So we’re all in agreement?” Tomoyo asked with a small smile despite the circumstances.

“Eh?” Syaoran and Sakura said in unison, turning toward her questioningly.

“Well, it seems that none of us truly believe Shion-chan’s story that she got dizzy in the pool,” Tomoyo said.

Sakura shook her head, and Syaoran was in agreement. “Shion-chan’s too athletic,” Sakura said. “If she had claimed a leg cramp, it might have been believable, but...”

“If that had been the case, she would have grabbed for her leg as it spasmed,” Syaoran agreed. “Instead, it was more like when Watery attacked in elementary school.”

Sakura nodded. “Which is why I think I must have had something to do with it,” she said, staring at the sidewalk as she walked. “I trust Fai-san, but I’m not sure I trust myself.” One of her hands came up to clench in a fist against her heart.

“Sakura-chan.” Tomoyo skipped ahead a step and grabbed Sakura’s hands, bringing the trio to a stop. Her face grew serious. “I know that everything is difficult for you right now with the appearance of the Clear Cards,” she said. “But to my knowledge, the Clear Cards have never harmed anyone. Isn’t that right?”

“They haven’t,” Sakura was quick to confirm. Her hands tightened on Tomoyo’s.

“The Cards are created from your subconscious thoughts,” Tomoyo continued. “Have you ever wished, even fleetingly, for something bad to happen to Shion-chan?”

Horrified, Sakura shook her head hard. “No, of course not! Shion-chan is my friend. I don’t want anything bad to happen to her, not ever!”

Tomoyo smiled. “See? It can’t have been your fault. If you had made a Card that day, I think its purpose would have been to help Shion-chan, not hurt her.”

Sakura stared for a moment. Then she smiled a little. “You’re right,” she said, relieved. “Back then, what I wanted was for Shion-chan to get out of the water safely.” Then her smile faded. “But there’s something going on with Shion-chan,” Sakura said. “I don’t know what it is. But first yesterday at the pool, then today at lunch...”

“And it isn’t the first time,” Syaoran agreed. “She’s run off in the middle of lunch before.”

“It kind of reminds me when I have to make excuses to leave to capture a Card,” Sakura admitted. “I worry that maybe Shion-chan is going through something similar.”

Syaoran was worried about Shion too. Sakura was, of course, his top priority. He loved her more than anything. But Shion was a precious friend, and he couldn’t forget the look on her face at lunch. The sudden fear that had crossed it had made him want to leap up to protect her, and he wasn’t even sure what he would have been protecting her from. He hadn’t sensed anything other than a strange wind that blew over the group as Shion was running away.

She had come back dirty and scratched up. Plus there was the weird bruise on her ankle from yesterday.

“I don’t know if she’ll confide in me,” he told Sakura. “But I’ll ask her if she’s okay tomorrow.”

To his relief, Sakura smiled a more genuine smile. “Thank you. You two are really close, so maybe she’ll tell you stuff she wouldn’t tell me.”

“I’ll try,” Syaoran said. “But I don’t know if she considers us close.”

“She definitely, definitely does!” Sakura insisted. “She’s a lot like you, I think.”

“If you say so.” Syaoran held out his hand, and Sakura blushed and took it. “Let’s go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reminder that this is the last update before I go on break. Updates will resume in January.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we're back! Thank you for your patience when I was on break <3

Shion’s body ached when she woke up the next morning. She had hoped the pain would ease once she got moving, like when she was sore after a soccer match. That didn’t happen, though, and even her injured ankle flared with new pain as she walked to school.

Fai had wanted her to stay home again to let her injuries heal. She couldn’t blame him for being worried. First the spirit had nearly drowned her, and then it had shown up the next day to attack her. It wasn’t a stretch to think that it would appear again soon. It was determined.

But Shion was stubborn and not afraid. The spirit had come at her twice and lost both times. Plus she had Nyanko-sensei trotting at her heels like a grumpy bodyguard. He was furious that the spirit had managed to get its hands on Shion yesterday, and he was determined that it would not happen again.

Nyanko-sensei had been with Shion since she was a baby. Despite how he acted, she trusted him completely.

Still, she had to block him with her foot to stop him from following her into the school. “I know,” she said when he glared at her. “But people will be able to see you. You have to wait outside.”

He huffed but didn’t say a word to her, trotting away to disappear into the ornamental bushes around the school.

She was a little early, so she didn’t run into any of her friends on the way to the classroom. However, Li was already in the classroom when she arrived. He started to stand up when he saw her, as though he had been waiting for her.

Before she could greet him, movement in the corner of her eye drew her attention toward the window. At first she thought she had imagined it, but then the spirit appeared there, its long limbs splayed around the window like a spider as it leered through the glass.

Shion flinched and bit back a scream. She couldn’t make a scene. There were other students here.

Her hand dropped to the flap of her bag as though to check that the Book of Friends was still safely inside.

The spirit tapped on the glass with one spindly finger.

_Tap. Tap. Tap._

Each tap was a little harder than the last. What if it broke the window?

Before she could think of what to do next, there was a streak of white and the spirit was knocked away from the window as Nyanko-sensei, now in his true form, tackled it. Both tumbled out of sight.

Her classmates oblivious chatter sounded distant around her as she tried to get her heart rate to settle down.

They didn’t see anything. They couldn’t. Both the spirit and Nyanko-sensei’s true form were invisible to anyone but here.

“Is everything all right?”

She jumped. “Yes, of course,” she said a bit too forcefully as she spun around. She had been too distracted to hear Li approach. He was right next to her. His thick eyebrows were drawn down in concern.

“You’re pale.”

Was she? Of course she was. She hadn’t expected the spirit to show up so early in the morning.

She almost gave him an excuse that she still didn’t feel quite right after her near-drowning, but that would make him worry more. He might even insist that she go home or at least to the nurses office. But she didn’t want to. She wanted to be here, at school.

She had friends here.

Li waited patiently for her to say something. She could sense his worry in the set of his mouth, and the intensity of his gaze. But he wasn’t the type of person who would force words out of her. He would wait until she was ready.

“I’m really fine,” she said, managing a small smile. “Sorry to worry you.”

She brushed past him on the way to her desk, and he followed her. When she sat down, he braced his hands on the desk to talk to her. He looked so serious.

“You don’t need to tell me anything if you don’t want to,” he said, staring straight into her eyes. “But you’re an important friend to me, so I hope you’ll tell me if you’re in trouble. You can tell me anything. If you need help, I’ll be there.”

Oh. He _was_ serious.

He had noticed something was up with her. She didn’t want to tell him what it was.

If he called her a liar or started to avoid her, she wouldn’t be able to take it.

Still. He called her his friend. He considered her important. It was enough that she wanted to cry, but she didn’t.

Li opened his mouth, probably about to press further. Shion blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

“It’s the same for me,” she said. “If you ever need my help, tell me and I’ll do whatever I can.” She gripped the edge of her desk, hard. “So... um, if it’s all right with you... Can I call you Syaoran? I’ll understand if that’s not okay.”

His eyes widened. She had surprised him. Maybe it would have been better not to ask. But he barely took the time to think about it before he said, “Yeah.”

It was Shion’s turn to be surprised. She had never in a million years thought that he would say yes. A gentle no had seemed like the most likely outcome. “Really?”

“Yeah.” He said it more confidently this time, and punctuated it with a decisive nod. “Can I call you Shion, too?”

“Okay. Ah, will Sakura-san mind?” The last thing she wanted was to cause problems in their relationship.

“I don’t think so, but I can check with her later.”

“Okay.”

* * *

Kaito stood on the street and stared up at the little house. It was modest enough that most, if not all, of the magicians of his acquaintance would think it beneath their stature. Of course, most of magicians in the Magic Society and that clan had insufferable egos.

From an objective standpoint, it was a nice, friendly house. There was a fresh coat of blue paint on the door and window trim, and colourful flowers burst from the window boxes and the planters on each side of the door. There was no yard, but the flowers added a warm touch.

It was late morning. Hopefully not too early to pay a visit to a rival magician.

He felt rather than saw Momo materialize by his right shoulder. He could imagine her arms crossed over her chest and her face pursed in disapproval.

But when she spoke, it was in neutral tones. “So this is the place?”

“It appears to be,” Kaito said. He kept the bland smile on his face as he studied it. One would never guess that a magician lived there. It didn’t give off the air of power that buildings tended to give off when a powerful magic user resided there for any length of time. Kaito might have walked right past it without even realizing.

Fai had done a good job covering his tracks. Kaito might never have found the house if not for the Natsume girl coming and going. Even so, it had still taken a few days. The protection spell on her meant that he couldn’t track her with magic. She had to be in his physical line of sight. If the Natsume girl was on her way home from school, so was Akiho, and Kaito had a duty to be home when Akiho arrived. That cut the time he had for investigation (or “stalking”, as Momo called it) quite short.

He might still be wrestling with that particular problem if not for the girl being sent home from school early after an accident at the school pool. Yes, it had taken a great deal of care to make sure that Fai didn’t sense him following, but his effort was rewarded. He had found their house.

It placed them on more even footing, knowing each other’s locations.

“You aren’t going to stay for this, are you?” he asked her. 

Momo frowned. She tried her best not to be seen by anyone other than him. “No,” she replied. “But do think before you act.”

With that, she vanished, leaving Kaito to climb the front steps alone. He pulled out his pocket watch so that it was ready in case he needed it.

The door opened before he could touch the bell.

Kaito startled, ready to leap back in case of an attack, but Fai simply stood and studied him. His neutral expression could rival Kaito’s own and gave nothing away.

“I was wondering who was loitering outside,” Fai said. He didn’t sound hostile or even unfriendly. He also didn’t sound surprised, which his next words confirmed. “I thought you’d find us before now.”

Kaito wasn’t used to being startled, and he didn’t like the feeling. He quickly composed himself. “You’re quite skilled at hiding yourself,” he said with a smile. “And I had some other matters to attend to.”

“I’m sure.” Fai stepped back from the door, leaving it open. “Well, you might as well come in. I’ll make tea.”

It seemed Kaito had composed himself only to be thrown off balance again. He stared at Fai’s back, wondering what Fai was playing at. Was this a trap? It must be.

But he stepped over the threshold nonetheless.

“It’s a lovely house,” he said once he was seated at a small round table in the cozy kitchen. There were plants in here too, some that Kaito recognized as medicinal herbs, but also benign things like green onions and parsley.

“Thank you. My brother picked it out,” Fai said, setting a kettle on the stove to boil. It seemed her wasn’t into fancy electric kettles. “I’ve tried to make it homey. Do you have a preference for tea?”

“Anything is fine.” It all tasted the same to him, anyway. But perhaps it was pride that he judged Fai for steeping the tea slightly too long. In order to achieve the best flavour, the tea had to be brewed at a specific temperature for a specific length of time.

He didn’t mention this, though, and accepted the tea with polite thanks.

“So, what brings you to Japan?” he asked once Fai had also served slices of a lemon bundt cake and sat across from Kaito at the table.

Fai sipped his mediocre tea. “To train Sakura-san,” he replied. A predictable answer. “It’s dangerous to leave a magician untrained. The more powerful they are, the more dangerous their lack of training becomes.”

“I see.” It was always about Sakura-san, wasn’t it? All of this concern over one girl. All these allies kept crawling out of the woodwork for her, and yet Akiho had spent her childhood without a single person stepping up to defend her.

It was enough to make him sick, truly.

But there were more important matters at hand. “I’ll be blunt,” Kaito said. “Are you a member of the Magic Society?”

“You haven’t touched your cake,” Fai observed. “I didn’t poison it, you know.” As if to prove it, he took a bite of his own cake. As if it wouldn’t be a simple matter to poison one slice and not another.

Not that Kaito was particularly concerned. He didn’t care much about food, and certainly not cake, but he supposed the polite thing to do would be to eat it. Especially since he wanted information from Fai.

He took a bite, but the sweetness and zestiness was lost on him. It was well made and probably delicious, but he just didn’t care. He waited for Fai to answer his question.

Fai took his time sipping his tea and eating another bite of cake. Finally he said, “There are a number of magic societies. I assume you mean the one in Europe?”

“Yes.”

“No, I am not a member. Never have been, never will be. They’re a gathering of the worst that the magical side of the world has to offer.” The tone was mild, but firm. It was likely the truth.

“They are powerful, though,” Kaito replied, finally sipping the subpar tea.

Fai pushed his empty plate aside, crossed his arms and rested them on the the table. “That’s not always a good thing.”

Kaito couldn’t argue with that.

“Are you a member of the Most Ancient Magicians of Europe?” he asked.

“So you’re here just to insult me?” Fai asked, raising his eyebrows. “If so, you could have said. Those people are awful too.”

“We are in agreement about that,” Kaito said. A brief silence fell over them. He almost expected Fai to ask his own questions, but he didn’t. He must know he wouldn’t get answers. “Who sent you, then?” Kaito finally broke the silence to ask. After all, someone had to have told him that Sakura existed.

The current head of the Li clan, perhaps?

“My brother.”

That gave Kaito pause. “Your brother?”

“Yes. And no, he isn’t a member of those organizations either.”

“Is he anyone I might know?” Kaito asked even though he was reasonably certain he didn’t know any Finnish people.

Fai looked like he might laugh. “I doubt it. If he had his way, nobody would know him.”

This conversation was raising more questions than it answered. 

“And how did he discover Sakura-san’s situation?” Perhaps being more direct would get clearer answers.

“Ah,” Fai had to pause to think. “He received a call from Eriol Hiiragizawa.”

He should have known it was Hiiragizawa sticking his nose in again. Sakura-san’s allies truly were formidable.

“Or, no. Sorry. In Japanese it would be Hiiragizawa Eriol, right? I always get it mixed around.” Fai sighed, exasperated with himself, and Kaito blinked in confusion.

“...Well, I think it hardly matters. I knew what you meant.”

“Mm, I suppose.” Fai stood up. “Would you like more cake?” he asked on his way to the counter.

“No thank you.” Kaito stood up as well. “It’s about time for me to go. But I should warn you, if you get in my way, it’ll turn into a fight.”

“Hmmm,” Fai hummed, putting the dishes into the sink. “I don’t much like fighting. I’d like to avoid that if possible.”

With that, Kaito left. If Fai wasn’t good at fighting, there wasn’t much to worry about. He had enough power to be an annoyance. That was all.


	17. Chapter 17

The spirit didn’t reappear for the rest of the school day, but Shion remained on edge. She knew that Nyanko-sensei was doing his part to guard her, but there was still a possibility that the spirit could show up at any moment, around any corner.

And while she was watching for any small movement that would indicate that she was in danger, she was aware of Syaoran watching her.

Shion felt bad for worrying him, but was grateful that he didn’t press her after their conversation that morning. She knew he would hold her to her word to tell him if anything really bad happened. 

The situation with the spirit was not dire enough to trouble him with. Even if it was, it wasn’t like he could do anything to help. He couldn’t see spirits.

But dire or not, the situation did need to be dealt with.

Syaoran caught up with her as she headed down to the schoolyard for lunch. It was nice to have a routine with friends. She had never had anything like that before, but now it happened everyday.

She was almost used to it.

“Hey.” Syaoran tapped her shoulder as he fell into step with her to make sure she knew he was there and that he didn’t startle her.

When she turned to look at him, he smiled at her.

“I talked to Sakura,” he said. “She said she doesn’t mind.”

It took her a second to understand what he meant. When she did, a shy smile crossed her face. “Really?”

His own smile brightened in return. “Yeah. She said she’s happy we’re such good friends.”

Honestly, that was so reassuring. Shion liked them both so much. She didn’t want to anything to come between them or make Sakura jealous.

She glanced over her shoulder where Sakura was walking and chatting with Akiho and Tomoyo. Sakura caught her looking and smiled warmly at her. Shion smiled back.

When they stepped through the outside doors, Shion glanced around in a way that she hoped was subtle. Nyanko-sensei was nowhere in sight, and neither was the spirit. Rather than reassuring her, it only increased her anxiety.

Where were they?

If Nyanko-sensei had driven the spirit away or killed it, he would have come to tell her not to worry. He hadn’t.

So it was still around. Yes, she definitely had to deal with it. She didn’t want to be looking over her shoulder for it indefinitely.

“Shion-chan? What do you think?” Sakura asked.

Shion jolted back into the present and realized that she had set up her spot with the others on autopilot. They were grouped in a loose circle in the shade of a large tree to protect them from the hot summer sun. Akiho was on her right, Sakura was on her left, and everyone was looking at her expectantly.

She had spaced out completely and had no idea what she was being asked about.

“Ah, sorry,” she said sheepishly. “I guess I spaced out. What were we talking about?”

“Oh, that’s no problem,” Chiharu said, cheerful as ever. “It’s easy to space out on a hot day like this. Just make sure you’re drinking enough water.”

“Of course. Thanks,” Shion replied.

Tomoyo leaned forward to draw Shion’s attention to her. “We were talking about getting ice cream together after school since it’s such a nice day,” she explained. “Sakura-chan wanted to know if you could come.”

That sounded wonderful. She did want to go. Maybe she could put off dealing with the spirit until tomorrow.

But she became aware of a presence behind her, and then Nyanko-sensei was there in his true form. His fur brushed against her bare arms as he leaned down to tell her: “It got away, Shion. I don’t know where it went.”

So she would have to do the responsible thing and sit this one out. “Sorry, but I have something important to do after school,” she said, giving no sign that she had heard Nyanko-sensei or that she realized there was someone behind her. “Another time?”

“Aw, that’s too bad.”

“We’ll definitely have to go again sometime.”

Nyanko-sensei stayed behind her for the remainder of the lunch period, so close that she could have leaned against his chest if she wanted. His paws rested on either side of her so that she was in a safe little bubble of his protection. Nobody else could sense him. No one else knew he was there.

He left her reluctantly once class resumed, but reappeared as she waved goodbye to her friends after school.

“Any sign of it?” she asked once her friends’ backs were to her and they were out of earshot. She didn’t turn to face Nyanko-sensei, although he was crouched nearby. There were too many other students still on the school grounds and walking out of the gates. None of them were paying enough attention to notice her seemingly talking to herself, but that would change if she started to act too odd.

“It’s nearby,” Nyanko-sensei replied. “I can smell it. But I haven’t found its hiding place.”

“So we’ll have to lure it out.”

“I suppose.” He watched her. His expressions were hard to read, inhuman as he was. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking. “What do you intend to do?”

Shion turned and walked around to a less populated area around the side of the school. There she leaned against the wall and finally looked up into his face. “What are our options?”

He huffed. “Well, I could eat it,” he suggested.

She bit back a laugh. “Okay, aside from that.”

A breeze blew through, rustling her clothes and ruffling Nyanko-sensei’s fur. It was a nice break from the summer heat.

“There are three other options,” Nyanko-sensei said. “You could exorcise it, seal it, or take its name.”

It didn’t require much thought. Shion knew how to perform an exorcism, but she didn’t like to. She'd had some bad run-ins with exorcists in the past, and it had left her with a bad opinion of the practice. Sealing it was a risky option. Spirits that were sealed had a tendency to be inadvertently or deliberately released. Nyanko-sensei, for example, had been sealed inside a lucky cat statue when her father had accidentally broken the seal and released him.

That left taking the spirit’s name as her only option.

Forcing a spirit to give its name to you was the equivalent of holding its life in your hands. It would be forced to obey you, and anything that happened to the name would happen to the spirit as well. If the paper that held the name was torn, the spirit would be torn. If it were burned, the spirit would also burn. Therefore, a spirit being willing to give up its name was rare. Most had to be defeated and forced.

Her great-grandmother, Reiko, had been good at defeating spirits and taking their names. She was the one who had made the Book of Friends with all the names she had won.

If she took this spirit’s name, it would be much more dangerous for it to attack her because she could retaliate.

However, the spirit had already proven that it was no weakling. She would have to fight it and win, and her track record was not good against this particular spirit. But then, she had never confronted it before. It had ambushed her. It was the riskiest option with the greatest chance of injury or death to herself, but it was the only option that felt right under the circumstances. She just needed to be strong enough to win.

From what she had heard from the spirits who knew Reiko, her great-grandmother was a tough and formidable lady. Well, Shion could be tough too.

“All right,” she said. “Let’s take its name, then.”

Nyanko-sensei made a small, exasperated noise. “Your family could stand to be less stubborn,” he muttered, but that was all he said against her plan.

They would have to stay on the school grounds since the spirit had not shown any sign of following her home. While Shion would have liked to find somewhere more private and secluded than the schoolyard since there were still clubs in session within the school, it would have to do. But she tried to find the most private treed area that had enough space for a fight.

Nyanko-sensei returned to his cat form and hid from the bushes so that the spirit wouldn’t know he was still around to protect Shion.

There were three concrete blocks in the little clearing that students used as seats. Shion sat on one now, resting her hands lightly on her thighs as she settled in to wait.

She was better as sensing spirits when she wasn’t looking for them, so she closed her eyes and listened. Not just with her ears, but with her magic and her other senses.

She didn’t have to wait long to feel a disturbance. She dove to the side and rolled across the grass without even opening her eyes when the spirit lunged at her out of the trees. Its nails gouged marks in the grass as Shion rolled into a crouch, then stood.

“Hey,” she said with a smile, bracing her feet. It was how Reiko always appeared in the memories she sometimes saw from the spirits. “Let’s play a game. If you win, you can eat me. But if I win, you have to give me your name.”

The spirit did not respond. It straightened its long form and tilted its head to the the side, though its long hair obscured most of its face. But it drew its arm back and lashed out, so Shion supposed that was acceptance of the challenge.

She dove to the side again, rolling to absorb the impact as she hit the ground. Back on her feet again, she and the spirit eyed each other warily. She knew from past experience that its long arms were going to prove a challenge, since it could attack her while keeping its body out of attack range.

It swung out, and she decided that it was better to be on the offensive than the defensive. She ducked under its arm and charged forward. She kicked it in the shin, knocking its leg out from under it. While it was off-balance, she kneed it in the gut.

Before it recovered its balance, it grabbed her arm and flung her. This time her roll was uncontrolled. She collided with a tree, knocking the wind out of her.

She knew Nyanko-sensei was nearby and wanting to intervene, but he wouldn’t. She had challenged the spirit to a duel, and she would have to fight it to the end. Spirits were much more serious about promises than humans.

She gasped for air and rolled to her knees, struggling to get up. The spirit’s nails raked across her shoulder, the impact sending her sprawling again.

“Fight back, Shion!” she heard Nyanko-sensei yell from somewhere nearby. There was frustration straining his voice. “Use your power, at least!”

She was trying!

This time she managed to get on her feet before one of the spirit’s spider-like hands wrapped around her, pinning her arms to her sides and lifting her off the ground. Shion squirmed, but it was too strong for her to break free.

It wanted to eat her. It was drawing her close to its mouth, which opened to reveal sharp teeth. Shion had to take shallow breaths because of the pressure on her lungs, but she bided her time. She waited until she was close enough, then kicked out with her magic adding extra power.

She hit the spirit right where a nose should be. Her power knocked it backward, still holding on to her, and they tumbled across the grass. As she hit the ground, the spirit’s hand opened and she was able to wiggle free.

Shion was quick to get up, but so was the spirit. It was taller than her even on all fours. Its lean muscles bunched, and Shion had just enough time to prepare as it pounced. She pivoted so that the spirit brushed by her rather than hitting her directly, and brought her elbow down on its neck.

Shion’s arms weren’t as strong as her legs, but the magic she put behind it was enough to slam the spirit into the ground. It went limp as Shion skipped backward one wary step, in case it was a trick. But the spirit stayed down.

Breathing hard, she finally relaxed enough to notice the blood dripping down her arm. Her shoulder burned like fire. Not again. Saisei was going to be so upset. And she would have to ask Fai to fix yet _another_ uniform.

She knew he didn’t care about the uniform, but she hated to trouble him.

Nyanko-sensei bounded out of the cover of the bushes as the spirit started to stir. “What kind of fight was that?” he demanded, headbutting her leg. “I trained you better. You’ll have to practice more.”

“Sure,” Shion said, too relieved to have won to argue.

Nyanko-sensei batted the spirit’s head repeatedly with a paw as it tried to raise it. “Well, you lost! Cough up your name,” he demanded. Shion eased him away with her foot, ignoring his glare.

“A deal is a deal,” she agreed. She briefly left the spirit under Nyanko-sensei’s stern eye to get a slip of paper and an ink brush (the only writing utensil most spirits knew how to use) from her bag. She laid both in front of the spirit, and watched as it carefully wrote its name in black ink.

“ _Rui_ ,” she read aloud as she accepted the slip of paper. “Oh, so you’re a girl. That’s a pretty name.”

The spirit grumbled, but did not reply.

Shion sat down on one of the concrete blocks with the Book of Friends in order to bind in the new name while Nyanko-sensei gave Rui dire warnings.

“Your name belongs to us now. If you make trouble, we’ll burn it. That’ll burn you into a crisp. Got it?” he said. He waited for Rui to nod. “And you’d better come when Shion calls you, or else!” He huffed and turned to Shion. “You have anything to say?”

Shion stood up and tucked the Book of Friends back into her bag. “We got off to a rocky start,” she said, approaching the spirit. “But I hope we’ll be able to become friends in time.”

Rui didn’t answer, but Nyanko-sensei grumbled about soft-hearted Natsumes. “Well, you heard her. Now scram!”

Rui wasted no time leaving. Soon the only signs that she had been there at all were strange gouges in the grass.

Shion leaned against a tree and let out a long sigh of relief. That was one problem dealt with. Time to go home, hopefully without attracting too many stares for her blood soaked uniform.

“How bad?”

Shion opened her eyes to find Nyanko-sensei sitting at her feet and staring up at her. Admitting to concern might cause him to spontaneously combust, but she could tell that he was. “Not too bad,” she said.

He _harrumphed_ and shuffled back a couple feet. For a moment he disappeared in a veil of light, and when he reappeared he was in his true form. “I’ll carry you home.”

“I can walk,” she said.

“Don’t argue, brat. I’m older than you.”

Well, it would solve the problem of people staring and asking questions on her way home. And Nyanko-sensei probably wanted to do something for her since he hadn’t been able to help during the fight with the spirit.

“All right,” she said. It was difficult and painful to climb onto his back, even when he lay down to shorten the distance. Her shoulder was beginning to throb and ache, and bruises were making themselves known all over her body. But finally she was seated, and Nyanko-sensei was able to take off.

Shion loved to fly. There was something so freeing about it. Not just the act of flying itself, but the fact that no one perceived her when she was high above their heads. She didn’t have to worry about how they saw her when she was high in the air on Nyanko-sensei’s back.

But of course they had to land, though Nyanko-sensei made sure there was no one on the street beforehand and landed as close to their front door as possible. Shion slid painfully off, and there was a quiet pop as Nyanko-sensei donned his lucky cat form.

“I’m home,” Shion called nervously as she limped through the door. She had unwittingly kicked the spirit with her injured ankle, and it hurt again. 

There was no immediate response, which increased her anxiety. She hoped Fai was home. Having to wait to see his reaction to her injuries would be even worse, since she knew he worried and she didn’t discuss her plan with him beforehand.

But he was home. She found him at the kitchen table with his chin in his hand, staring into space. He was so deep in thought that she had to call his name twice to get his attention.

“Is something wrong?” she asked when he started like she’d gotten his attention.

“No, I just had an interesting encounter today,” he said, finally turning to look at her. His eyes widened in horror when he saw the blood. “Shion! What happened?”

The alarm in his voice attracted Saisei from the other room. They gasped, their hands flying to their mouth when they saw Shion. “Oh no, you’re hurt!” they exclaimed. Their big eyes filled with tears, as Shion had known they would, but the tears didn’t spill over before Saisei swiped them away. “I’ll get the first aid kit at once.”

As Saisei flew away, Fai got up and eased Shion into the chair. “Was it that spirit again?”

“Yes, but it’s okay. I took her name, so she won’t be a problem anymore.” While Shion spoke, Saisei returned with the first aid kit, which was almost as big as them.

“We’ll need to take your blouse off,” Fai said, opening the first aid kit and pulling out antiseptic wipes and bandages.

“That’s fine.” She was wearing a camisole underneath. She did need help with the buttons, though, since she found it hard to lift her left arm from the pain. Saisei undid them for her while Fai continued getting the supplies ready.

Fai got to work cleaning her shoulder. His hands were steady despite the worry in his eyes. “Shion, that was very dangerous,” he said. “You should have told me first.”

“You wouldn’t have been able to help,” Shion said as gently as possible. It was true. Sakari was the one who could see spirits. Fai could not.

Fai didn’t answer, but she could tell he was upset.

“If I could get big, I would be able to use healing magic,” Saisei said unhappily. They had settled in Shion’s lap and were watching Fai’s movements with anxious attention. “I can’t use it when I’m small.”

“It’s okay,” Shion assured them.

“I wouldn’t have allowed anything to happen to her,” Nyanko-sensei said. He was doing a good job at playing unconcern, but he did hover close by. “She’s my responsibility.”

“Mine as well!” Saisei protested.

“I think she’s all of our responsibility, so let’s not argue about it,” Fai said, heading off the potential argument. With Shion bandaged up, he began to pack up the first aid supplies. “Go get changed and bring your uniform to me,” he told Shion. “And we’ll see what I can do to fix it.”

“Okay.” She scooped Saisei into her good arm. As she started up the stairs, she heard Fai sigh behind her. She knew he would never send her away, but whenever she upset him there was the little voice in her head that whispered maybe this time she’d pushed it too far.

She would try to be less of a problem in the future.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for missing the last update! I moved, and it took a while to get everything packed up and then unpacked. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Shion tried to argue Nyanko-sensei out of walking her to school. “The spirit is gone now,” she said as she put on her shoes. “You don’t need to come.”

There was a mild headache making its presence known behind her temples. She’d already had an argument with Fai that morning, as much as one _could_ argue with Fai. He had wanted her to stay home to give her bruises and her shoulder a chance to start healing. And yeah, okay, he was right. She knew he was. Her body was one solid ache, except for her shoulder, which burned and throbbed with a sharper, fiercer pain. The bruises were so dark and numerous that Saisei had gasped and burst into fresh tears when Shion had taken her pyjamas off to get dressed.

On top of all that, fatigue was a weight that dragged on her bones. All her body wanted was to crawl back into bed and sleep for a few more hours. Possibly the entire day.

And Nyanko-sensei knew that, which was why he was arguing back.

“There are more spirits where that one came from,” he countered. “Some less bold ones might want to take advantage of your weakened state to try something that they wouldn’t if you were at full power. You know you used too much power subduing the one yesterday.” He forged on when she opened her mouth to argue. “You might not have enough in reserve to summon Misuzu or Hinoe if something happens. I’m going with you.”

Fai’s quiet voice spoke up from behind her. “I think Saisei and I would feel better if Nyanko-sensei went with you,” he said. He was standing back a few feet with his arms crossed over his chest, but his face was all concern. He didn’t want her to go, period. But he was letting her because he knew she wanted to so badly.

Shion sighed, defeated. Nyanko-sensei was one thing. She had been squabbling with him since she was born. Fai’s blue eyes filled with soft concern and Saisei’s tear-stained face at his shoulder were too much.

“All right,” she said with a sigh. “But don’t let anyone see you talk.”

He huffed. “You think I’m an amateur?”

She didn’t bother to reply to that, instead saying goodbye to the other two and giving Saisei one last comforting hug before she set off for school.

When they had walked far enough to be out of sight of the house, Nyanko-sensei broke the silence. “They’re not going to forget about you just because you miss a day.”

“It’s not that.” And it wasn’t, this time. “I have a game today.” It wasn’t that, either. She didn’t have the words to explain that she loved going to school and seeing her friends. She wanted to soak up all the attention and affection she’d never been given when she was a child, and give her own affection in return. She was so _happy._ She didn’t want to miss even a day. Sundays were hard enough.

And she wanted to see Akiho.

Of course Nyanko-sensei couldn’t read her thoughts, so he was angry. “What? You want to play soccer in this condition?” he demanded. “You stupid kid!”

So they had to argue about that until they approached the school gates, when Shion shushed him so that no one else would hear. He grumbled, and she expected him to disappear when she reached the gates as he had every other time. Instead, he followed her almost to the doors to the school, when someone called her.

“Shion-san, good morning!” Akiho said, smiling brightly as she trotted to catch up. Syaoran and Sakura were close behind her, but walking at a more leisurely pace. “Isn’t the weather lovely? Oh, a cat,” she said, stopping in surprise as she noticed Nyanko-sensei at Shion’s feet.

Shion’s face heated up at being greeted with such joy by Akiho, who seemed to get cuter and cuter with each passing day. “Good morning,” she said.

“Your cat came again?” Sakura asked as she and Syaoran caught up. She smiled, amused. “Does it follow you to school a lot?”

“Unfortunately,” Shion replied, staring at him out of the corner of her eye. She made a subtle shooing motion with her fingers at her side. He glared at her.

“How cute!” Akiho crouched to offer Nyanko-sensei a hand to sniff, which he ignored. This didn’t dampen her enthusiasm, however. “Is it a boy cat or a girl cat? What’s its name?”

“A boy. I call him Nyanko-sensei.”

He was still glaring at Shion, but she privately thought it served him right for not leaving her at the gates to the school.

Shion crouched next to Akiho and pulled Nyanko-sensei into her lap so that he wouldn’t scratch Akiho for her attempts to pet him. Akiho scratched him between the ears, delighted. “He’s so cute! I didn’t know you had a cat.”

“Yeah. We’ve been together since I was little,” Shion explained. But she could tell that his patience was wearing thin, so she released him with a stern, “Go home.”

He wouldn’t, but at least she’d tried.

“He doesn’t get called cute very often,” she said once Nyanko-sensei was out of earshot and she’d straightened up.

“I can see why,” she heard Syaoran mutter under his breath, but she couldn’t fault him for that. At least they’d all recognized that he was a cat. Sometimes people stopped her to ask where she’d gotten her pet ‘pig.’

“He’s very cute!” Akiho protested, standing up so suddenly that she accidentally bumped into Shion. Shion couldn’t hide her wince as her injured shoulder flared with fresh pain. Akiho was immediately concerned. “You’re hurt? Where?”

 _Oh no._ Shion tried to move away, but Akiho had already grabbed her arm and taken notice of the bandage that just barely showed beneath her sleeve.

“You _are_ hurt!” Upset, Akiho pushed up Shion’s sleeve, exposing more of the bandage. “What happened?”

“It’s nothing,” Shion said, pulling away even as the other two came to cluster around her. Her heart rate picked up in flustered panic. They noticed. She’d wanted to hide it. She blurted out the first words that came to mind. “I fell.”

“Again?” Akiho asked. She didn’t grab for Shion’s arm again, but it was clear that she didn’t believe Shion. The other two didn’t look like they believed her either. Even Akiho’s little rabbit looked disapproving despite not changing expression.

Shion couldn’t explain why, but Momo felt alive to her. She had the aura of life that spirits like Nyanko-sensei and angels like Saisei gave off, though all three felt different.

She had never seen the little rabbit do anything to back up that impression, but she couldn’t shake it.

The bell rang for class, but none of them moved.

“Remember what we talked about?” Syaoran said quietly. “You can tell me anything.”

Shion looked away. “I know. I know. But you don’t- I fixed the problem, so it’s okay. You don’t have to worry.” She drew in a shaky breath. “Let’s go to class.”

Without waiting for a response, she darted through the doors and to the classroom. After a moment, Syaoran followed. They were both a little late to class, and that prevented Syaoran from trying to ask her more questions. But he still watched her with concern.

She managed to avoid the others by escaping to the library during lunch. She felt guilty and cowardly for doing it, but she didn’t want to face their worry. In fact, she was able to avoid them up until it was time for her soccer game after school. There was no way to truly avoid them there, though she could keep her distance. Sakura was a member of the cheerleading club, which was going to be performing to show their support.

Sakura waved to her as the cheerleading club, soccer team, and opposing team did stretches and warm-ups in different sections of the field. Shion waved back with a pang of guilt. Sakura didn’t seem angry. Just worried.

 _Don’t think about it,_ she chided herself, even as she saw Syaoran and Akiho take seats at the side of the field. Her heart beat faster. At first she thought it was nerves, because Syaoran was here and he was on to her. But then Akiho caught Shion’s eye and smiled, and Shion went light-headed.

She looked away quickly and caught sight of Tomoyo with her video camera in hand and fixated firmly on Sakura. Sakura was doing her best to ignore her, but still looked sheepish at the attention.

Oddly, that made her feel better. Especially since she could see Nyanko-sensei a little past Tomoyo, hiding behind the opposing school’s bags.

She took a deep breath. Okay, she could do this. Just think about the game.

* * *

“Where’s Daidouji?” Syaoran asked when Sakura joined him and Akiho at the side of the field.

Sakura was panting. Her part in the cheerleading club’s routine had been difficult, and she flapped the front of her uniform to try and dry the sweat that soaked her chest and back. “She had to leave to meet her mom,” Sakura explained, sitting on the grass next to him. “But she expects me to call and tell her about the game later.”

“You were wonderful!” Akiho enthused, offering Sakura a small white towel to wipe the sweat from her face. Sakura accepted it with gratitude.

“Oh, I’m sure I wasn’t that good. I messed up my footwork a bit in the middle,” she protested. “Thanks for the towel.

“Not at all. You really were great,” Syaoran said with a smile, and Sakura blushed but could not argue with him when he looked at her like that.

On the field, the players started to move. Shion was a forward, and intercepted the ball as soon as the other team got it.

“She’s good,” Syaoran commented. Sakura could only nod in awed agreement. Shion’s feet were a blur as she tore down the field. But there was a talented girl on the other team too, who intercepted Shion’s pass and sent the ball to a teammate down the field.

One of Tomoeda’s second years took it back, and they were off again.

In the end, Tomoeda was victorious. Sakura clapped enthusiastically, convinced that her friend was a large reason why they won. From the way Shion’s teammates clapped her on the back, they agreed.

Shion approached them shyly. Sakura was relieved since it felt like Shion had been avoiding them all day. She grabbed Shion’s hands. “Congratulations! I had no idea you were so fast.”

Shion winced a bit, and Sakura belatedly remembered that her shoulder was injured. Before she could apologize and drop Shion’s hands or ask if she was okay, Shion replied, “Thanks... I’ve always been good with my feet.”

“You were _amazing!_ ” Akiho exclaimed with eyes shining. “I’ve always liked soccer, but I don’t think I would stand a chance against you!”

Sakura watched with affection as Shion’s blush took over the rest of her face. Shion stammered out an attempt at a response to Akiho. It was so cute. It was too bad that Akiho liked Kaito. Sakura really thought that Shion liked Akiho, so it would be great if they liked each other.

Akiho yawned and stumbled. “Pardon me,” she said, and then her eyelids drooped. She stumbled forward again and Shion caught her in time for them both to topple to the ground together. That would have been fine, except neither of them made a move to get back up.

“Huh?” Sakura said as other spectators slumped to the ground.

Syaoran dropped to his knees to check on Shion and Akiho as Sakura ran over to catch Chiharu before she hit the ground. Whatever it was spread across the field, and players and coaches fell one by one until Sakura and Syaoran were the only ones awake.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! Feel free to follow me on [Tumblr](https://chiiwifruit.tumblr.com/) or [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/chiiwifruit/), or check out the playlist I made for this fic on [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37zySYbGBhsRSd5CumCpmv).
> 
> If you liked this fic, please be sure to hit the Kudos button and leave a comment down below!


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